Blackberry Bun's Oz Journal
by Blackberry Bun
Summary: There was a time, when a group of kids from Strawberryland were trapped in a faraway land, unable to go home. Four years were spent in the faraway land named Oz, and many things have happened to them while trying to find the way back home. Update is irregular, but if there is one it will be posted on Monday.
1. Prologue

Year 1

Prologue: A New Beginning

Two days had passed since the day I, along with Strawberry Shortcake, Apple Dumplin', Ginger Snap, Orange Blossom, Angel Cake, Huckleberry Pie, and Peppermint Fizz, had ended up in Oz, a planet located in a different universe from Strawberryland. Why had we been stranded here? It had been because of me. I had created a spaceship which I named Albatross, and I invited my friends to ride it with me. I had never thought that just a minute after we got to see the view of space, we got sucked by a black hole. We managed to get out from the empty void within by overcharging the engine, but as the result Albatross had malfunctioned and fallen down into this planet.

During the first two days, we met a wicked witch named Gladys with her flying monkey, a good witch named Glinda, who was Gladys' sister, and a scientist named Henry, who apparently came from another universe and was trapped in Oz, just like us. Many things have happened in the first day, but in the end we were allowed by Glinda to live in Emerald Castle. The castle was the place where The Great Wizard of Oz lived, or so it was known. Apparently, The Great Wizard of Oz was actually Henry, who used technology to make himself appear as if he had magic. Glinda knew that, and she brought us to Henry because he was a scientist, so he probably could help me find a way to get back home.

The day we met them was also the day we learned that Oz was actually another planet in another universe. The only way to get back to Strawberryland was to repair Albatross, which seemed impossible because Albatross was badly wrecked and the technology of Oz was as primitive as fairy tales. Even with the help of Henry, I honestly doubted if we would ever get back home.

In the second day, in a workshop located at the back of Emerald Castle, I and Henry tried to salvage anything that could be used from the remains of Albatross. We finished salvaging after dark, and the result was... nothing. A big fat zero. Everything from the remains of Albatross were better off in a garbage pile, which meant instead of fixing Albatross I had to built a new spaceship from scratch. The new spaceship had to be strong enough to fly through the black hole, and I had to build such monster with primitive technology. Knowing that made me frustrated, and Henry suggested me to take a break for a few days. I didn't say anything and just went to sleep.

This morning, I woke up a bit late. By the time I got to the dining room to have breakfast, only Henry and Glinda were still there. The others had already gone somewhere.

"Good morning, Blackberry Bun," Glinda greeted.

"Hello there, son. Did you sleep well?" Henry asked.

"Not really," I said. "The thought of the impossible task kept haunting me."

"It's not impossible, son," Henry said. "You need to believe."

"Look, Mr. Henry. The spaceship I built with modern tools got wrecked by a black hole. We were very lucky that we could get out," I said. "Now, to get back home I need a stronger spaceship, strong enough to fly through the same black hole, and I have to build such thing with primitive technology. Do you still think it is not impossible?"

"Yes, son. You just need to try, one step at a time," Henry said.

"Easier said than done," I said, taking a seat. "I don't even know where to start."

"Don't think too much about it for now, son," Henry said as I ate my breakfast. "Go relax for some days first."

"I can't do that. My friends are waiting for me to bring them home. I can't afford to make any delay!" I said.

"Blackberry, you actually have a point," Glinda said. "However, that thought also puts you under pressure, and because of that you cannot think clearly. If you keep it like that, you will delay even more."

"Also, you should remember that your friends agreed that you must not stress yourself. Why do you seem to forget that in just one day?" Henry said.

"I know, and I still remember it," I said. "But they are all trapped here because I brought them with me to space. I dragged them all into this mess. I have to be responsible and make amends!"

"I believe none of them blames you, Blackberry," Glinda said as I finished eating.

"I'm sure they do. They just don't want to show it," I said, standing up.

"Always happy to blame yourself as always," suddenly someone said from behind. I looked and saw that it was Peppermint. "If you really want to be blamed, then I'll gladly be the one to blame you, because the others are just too soft."

I was just speechless as she walked to me and stopped right in front of me.

"It's all your fault! If only you did not make that junk of a spaceship, none of us would be here right now, trapped in the middle of nowhere! You better find a way for us to get back home fast, or you're nothing more than a stranger to me!" she said. "There! Happy now?"

I was still speechless.

"Look, kid. Everything may or may not be your fault, but you have shown to everyone else that you want to bring us all home, and that's enough," she said. "I don't care how long it will take. Just finish your job and bring us home. If you need help from any of us, just say so."

"Peppermint..." I said as she turned away and walked.

"The others are at the courtyard playing ball if you want to know," she said without stopping or looking at me. After she was gone, I sat down again and mused.

"That was a bit harsh," Glinda said.

"She actually has a point, though," Henry said.

"That's the Peppermint Fizz I always know," I said.

"So, what are you going to do now, Blackberry?" Glinda asked.

"I'm going to see the others, and after that I'll decide what to do next," I said. I then went to the castle courtyard, and indeed like she had said, the others were there playing catch. As soon as I arrived, Strawberry noticed me.

"Hey there, Blackberry!" Strawberry said.

"Oh, hey, buddy! Wanna join us?" Huck asked.

"I think I'll pass," I said as Huck threw the ball. "I need to get back to work soon."

"You should take a day off from fixing the spaceship once in a while," Angel said, catching the ball and throwing it again.

"Yeah, Blackberry. We don't want you to overwork yourself," Orange said as Ginger caught the ball.

"I started just yesterday, why should I take a day off already?" I asked with a bit of chuckling.

"Because all the things happened when we arrived here were exhausting, am I right?" Ginger said.

"Ginger is berry right, Blackberry," Strawberry said. "Also, I believe everyone else here have agreed that you should not stress yourself out. Just do it one step at a time, and if you need our help we will berry gladly help you!"

"That's right," Angel said.

"Come join us, Blackberry!" Orange said.

"Apple Dumplin' want Blackberry have fun!" Apple said.

"Everyone... Thank you," I said. I then joined them in playing catch with a very big relief. From a distance, without any of us noticing, Peppermint looked at us while leaning to a wall and with arms folded, and Glinda stood beside her.

"Hmph, took him long enough," she said.

"Thank you for your help, Peppermint," Glinda said.

"I just can't stand having a friend who keeps blaming himself and stressing himself out," Peppermint said.

"And thanks to you, he no longer does that. He should be able to think more clearly for his work now," Glinda said.

"I do hope so," Peppermint said. "I really miss my home... and Cola."

Later, I went back to the workshop. Henry was there disposing the remains of Albatross.

"Oh, you're here, son. I thought I told you to take a few days off," Henry said.

"I know, but at least I want to make a plan for the spaceship first," I said. "Can't start without it."

"Good point, son!" Henry said.

"Let's see..." I said. "To assemble a spaceship we need the frame, the body, then..."

"The engine, also thrusters," Henry said.

"That's right. And then the wings and windshield," I said. "Inside there will be the cockpit and seats."

"Don't forget the cables to connect the parts, especially the engine," Henry said.

"That's quite a lot," I said. "Better take notes."

I then took a blank scroll and a quill with the ink, and then I wrote all the mentioned parts on it. I then looked around the workshop, seeing that the available tools were too primitive and almost completely useless.

"You know, Mr. Henry," I said. "I think before we begin building the spaceship, we need to get the proper tools for it first."

"You made another good point, son!" he said.

"But the problem is, the tools in my mind are modern ones, and there's one important thing missing for them to work," I said.

"Electricity isn't it?" he said, and I nodded. "Well, I have the batteries for my holographic device."

"We will run out of batteries before we even finish assembling the frame and body," I said.

"You have another point, son," he said.

"Electricity isn't invented yet in this world," I said. "I guess we have to do the inventing ourselves."

"In other words, make a generator," he said.

"Yes, that should be our first step," I said. "Though I don't know what the generator will be fueled by."

"In any case, we need to get the materials to build it," he said.

"Well, that's a lot of work already," I said. "This will indeed take a long time."

"Take it easy, son. You have done enough for today. Go take a few days off like I said, maybe you'll get bright ideas during those days," he said.

"Alright. See you later, Mr. Henry," I said.

"Just call me with name only," he said while smiling.

I then left the workshop thinking about all the works we had to do just to prepare for the main project of building a spaceship. Indeed it would take a very long time, and I somehow felt that there would be many obstacles along the way. However, I was determined that I would never give up. I would bring everyone back to Strawberryland, and I would definitely make that happen someday.

-End of Prologue-


	2. Year 1, Chapter 1

Year 1

Chapter 1: Gem Berries

As Henry and my friends had suggested, I had decided to take a few days off from working on building a new spaceship. I spent the first day off with my friends playing catch at the courtyard and other games such as hide and seek inside the castle. I pretty much enjoyed the free days, though sometimes I still couldn't stop thinking about where to start with the spaceship project. I and Henry had figured out that the first step should be providing electricity to the workshop because we would make modern tools to complete the project, and the tools would not work without electricity. However, I still had no idea what kind of generator would suffice to provide electricity for the project. Coal generator would probably make too much air pollution. Windmill generator would be too dependent on weather, and the same could apply to solar generator, unless we could make the generator capable of storing a large amount of excess energy. I then decided not to think too much about it for then, mainly because I still had no idea what kind of resource was more abundant and accessible in Oz. I had to find that out first before deciding on what kind of generator to make.

However, we couldn't leave Emerald Castle for a while because of what had happened in the second day when we had walked outside the castle into Emerald City. The inhabitants of Emerald City, namely berrykins, were afraid of us. None of us had any idea why, but all of them ran away on sight. Some of the brave ones even threw things at us. We were lucky that Glinda appeared to teleport us back into Emerald Castle safely, but after that Glinda had asked us to stay inside the castle while she handled the matter.

In the morning of my second day off, all of us were in the dining room having our breakfast.

"Glinda, have you figured out what was wrong with the berrykins?" I asked.

"Well... yeah," Glinda said. "I was about to tell you all after this breakfast."

"Better tell us now," Peppermint said. "I can't stand the thought of being hated without knowing why."

"Yeah. We want to know why so we can clear things up," Strawberry said.

"Okay then," Glinda said. "Among the berrykins, there is a legend. The legend says that someday a fire from the sky would fall upon Oz, bringing curse and disaster throughout the land. That is the cause of what has happened."

"Please tell me that the fire is not our spaceship, I sure hope it is not!" Ginger said.

"Oh man, that definitely is the case," Huck said.

"Indeed. The village where your ship fell was inhabited by berrykins, although Gladys recently took over the village and she was building her second castle there when you fell down there. The berrykins who were about to move to Emerald City saw your spaceship falling, and the rumor spread quickly," Glinda said. "In fact, I knew about your arrival when I heard from some newcomer berrykins panicking that the fire from the sky has come bringing eight monsters."

"Monsters?! Us?! That's very disturbing!" Peppermint said.

"That sure is an unfortunate misunderstanding," Orange said.

"In addition, right now the berrykins in Emerald City actually believes that I am imprisoning you here and attempting to banish you all to where you came from," Glinda said.

"This is starting to sound funny," I said. "Though I kinda want the last part to happen for real."

"Unfortunately, I can't do such thing," Glinda said.

"We need to talk to them and clear things up!" Strawberry said. "I don't want the berrykins to rest uneasy for days because of a misunderstanding!"

"Apple Dumplin' not want hate," Apple said.

"Them? Rest uneasy? Who cares about them? I only care about clearing our name!" Peppermint said.

"The main goal here is exactly that, anyway," I said.

"To make matters worse..." Glinda said. "The berrykins are running out of gem berries lately, and they believe that it is because of your presence."

"Gem berries? What are those?" I asked.

"Have you noticed all the lightings inside the castle, and also the lights over Emerald City whenever you happen to look outside the window?" Glinda asked back. "Those are gem berries."

"What? I've been thinking that they're just some kind of magical lanterns," I said.

"What you said is actually true," Glinda said. "Gem berries are magical berries which radiate light. They are used as lighting mainly in Emerald City and Emerald Castle."

"Why are they running out?" Angel asked. Glinda was silent for a while.

"They brought it upon themselves," Glinda finally said. "The energy of gem berries are limited. To preserve their energy, they must be closed, wrapped by their leaves, whenever they are not used. But the berrykins just forgot to do that. They took the gem berries for granted. Because of this, the gem berries get replaced too often, more often than their growth can handle."

"Whoa, that sounds like how we back in Strawberryland must turn off the lights every morning, am I right?" Ginger said. "And the berrykins keep the lights on all day long, am I right again?"

"That's berry terrible!" Strawberry said.

"We must knock some sense into them!" Peppermint said.

"Yeah, immediately!" Orange said.

"Calm down, youngsters!" Henry, who had been just listening, said. "I agree that what the berrykins do is terrible. However, you cannot just barge in and speak to them."

"Henry is right," I said. "Remember that right now we are monsters to them. Bringers of curse and disaster. There is no way they will listen to us."

"Then what is your plan, kid?" Peppermint said, sounding upset.

"I don't know. At least, not yet," I said.

"Henry and Blackberry are right, everyone," Glinda said. "The berrykins are very firm with their beliefs. Simply talking to them won't work. We need a plan to convince them."

"Hmm... Henry, do the berrykins know you?" I asked.

"They only know me as The Great Wizard of Oz, and none of them has seen me in person," Henry said.

"I see," I said. "Glinda, do the berrykins in Emerald City have some kind of leader among them?"

"There is a mayor," Glinda said.

"That's good. I have a plan, then," I said.

Just less than one hour later, Glinda came into the City Hall of Emerald City. The mayor was in his office room doing his daily office work. Glinda got into his room easily because she had a special privilege to enter his room anytime without appointment.

"Ah, Glinda! How are you?" the mayor greeted when he noticed Glinda entering.

"I'm fine. Thank you," Glinda said with a smile.

"What can I do for you?" the mayor said. "Perhaps you need help in banishing those monsters? I sure hope not, because we can't do anything! And you have The Great Wizard with you there, right?"

"I'm here to tell you that you have been summoned by The Great Wizard of Oz," Glinda said, which surprised the mayor. "Please come immediately."

"What?! Me?! Summoned?! Have I done something wrong? Or perhaps he indeed needs help?" the mayor said in panic.

"Calm down. You will be fine," Glinda said. "Just come with me."

"Oh... Alright," the mayor said. He then walked with Glinda to the Emerald Castle. When they arrived at the throne room, a large fireball appeared above the throne. The mayor knelt in front of the fireball.

"Greetings, mayor of Emerald City," the fireball said with echoing voice.

"Oh, Great Wizard of Oz. I humbly kneel before you, to listen to what you want to say," the mayor said.

"As you know, I and Glinda have been trying to banish the monsters from the fallen fire back to where they came from," the fireball said. "Unfortunately, that is not possible."

"What? But what will become of Oz with them around bringing the curse upon the land?" the mayor said in fear. "What will become of the gem berries?"

"Listen to me to the very end without cutting me off, will you?" the fireball said.

"Y-yes! Please forgive me! I will now listen to the end!" the mayor said.

"Alright," the fireball said. "Indeed banishing them back to where they came from is not possible. However, we have found out that there is no such thing as curse within them. Each of them is no different than a regular person. Therefore, I ask you to spread the news that they do not pose any danger upon the land so you and other berrykins will treat them fairly. Do you have anything to say about this?"

"That is a good thing to hear! However, I need to say that as long as our problem with depleting gem berries still exists, people will not fully believe that there is no curse!" the mayor said.

"That is why I am going to send them to Emerald City to check the problem and give a solution. I really hope for the cooperation from you and other berrykins," the fireball said. "Spread the news within the rest of this morning. After lunch time I will send them to Emerald City."

"Yes, your majesty! As you command!" the mayor said. The fireball then faded away and the mayor left the place in a hurry.

"You can come out now," Glinda said, and Henry came out from behind the folding screen which had been hiding him from view. All eight of us also came into the throne room from the door near the place where Henry had been hiding.

"That went really well," I said. "Thanks, Henry."

"I still don't feel right seeing him behaving as if I'm a high king," Henry said.

"Is it alright to keep lying to people about you being a great wizard?" Strawberry asked.

"It sure doesn't feel right..." Angel said.

"Yeah," Orange said.

"Hey, I'm not for lying myself. Not anymore," Peppermint said. "But did we have any other choice?"

"Maybe we could have tried talking to them," Strawberry said.

"Oh, please," Peppermint said with her hand on her forehead and sighing.

"I feel the same way as you, Strawberry," I said. "But there are times when simply talking just doesn't work. This was one of those times, and that was why we used an alternative."

"I guess you're right," Strawberry said. "But I think you have to tell them someday that you actually are not a wizard."

"I will consider that. But for now I think we should figure out the solution for another problem," Henry said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"How to convince the berrykins that they are running out of gem berries because of themselves," Henry said.

"I have been thinking about that too," Glinda said. "I'm not sure if telling them outright will work. Despite what we have done to the mayor, the other berrykins probably still don't fully trust what you will say."

"No matter how hard I think about it, the only thing that will matter is how we talk to them," I said.

"Then I suggest only the ones who are good at talking and convincing to be the one going," Henry said.

"Oh, that means..." Huck said. He then looked at Strawberry. The others except Strawberry herself also did the same.

"Huh? Me?" Strawberry asked.

"Who else?" Peppermint said. "All the time in Strawberryland, you have always been the first one to become friends with newcomers."

"Yeah, Strawberry. You're the best at making friends with new people!" Orange said.

"Strawberry, good friends," Apple said.

"Yeah, for this case talking can work," I said. "And you're the best at it."

"I'm berry flattered, everyone," Strawberry said. "Alright, I will try."

"I will go with you," I said. "I want to know further about the gem berries."

So, it was settled that only I and Strawberry would go to Emerald City to somehow convince them that their depleting reserves of gem berries were caused by their own ignorance. As Henry had promised, after lunch time the two of us went to Emerald City. When we arrived, the mayor was waiting for us along with a number of citizens who seemed to be whispering to each other. Probably because of the bad rumor about us still around, and maybe also because the two of us were quite bigger in size than the berrykins, whose body were just as big as a berry ball. Their rather short arms and legs didn't help at all.

"Welcome to Emerald City. Only two of you?" the mayor asked.

"Berry nice to meet you! I'm Strawberry Shortcake!" Strawberry said, shaking hands with the mayor.

"Uhh, yeah. Nice to meet you too," the mayor said.

"I'm Blackberry Bun. Henr- I mean, the Wizard of Oz only sent the two of us because he believed we wouldn't need unnecessary crowd," I said.

"I see. Come with me then. I will show you the problem you need to solve," the mayor said. He then brought us to the town square with many townspeople whispering to each other as we passed by them. He stopped under an inactive street light. I noticed that the lamp of the street light seemed to be wrapped by leaves.

"Here we are," the mayor said. He then used a lever near the base of the street light, and the leaves wrapping the lamp opened, revealing a shining berry.

"It's berry beautiful!" Strawberry said.

"Indeed it is, but our problem right now is that we are beginning to run out of these gem berries," the mayor said.

"That's berry terrible!" Strawberry said. "Do you know what might be the cause?"

"Well..." the mayor said. "This is embarrassing, but I admit that it is because of ourselves."

"Really? Could you please explain?" Strawberry asked.

"Well, you see, the energy of gem berries are limited," The mayor said, using the same lever. The leaves then wrapped the gem berry again. "Whenever we don't need them, we must preserve their energy like this. But for quite a long time we just forgot to do that. Not only that, the younger berrykins often use the gem berries as balls for playing catch."

"Do you all like the gem berries?" Strawberry asked.

"Of course! The gem berries are valuable to us!" the mayor said.

"Well, if I like something... I will treasure it," Strawberry said.

"It was all our fault, for that I agree," the mayor said. "That's why we have stopped using the gem berries as toys, and we now regularly close the gem berries whenever they are not used."

"I'm berry happy to hear that!" Strawberry said.

"So that means your problem is solved, right?" I said.

"No, not at all," the mayor said. "Instead, it got worse. The gem berries are running out even faster recently."

The mayor's last sentence surprised both of us. It turned out the problem of the berrykins was not what Glinda had told us. It was something else.

"Great galloping gooseberries! How come?" Strawberry asked.

"We have no idea! The gem berry trees were just fine in the field one night, but in the following morning we found some of them withered," the mayor said.

"Could you show us the field where it happened?" I asked.

"Ah, sure. Let me show you the way," the mayor said. He then brought us to a gem berry field located a bit far from Emerald City, about half an hour walk. When we arrived there, what we saw was a rather barren field with most trees having no life in them. The amount of gem berry tree still living on the field could be counted with two hands.

"This is just... berry horrible," Strawberry said.

"My people believed that the cause of this is the curse you all brought when that fire fell from the sky and you came out from it," the mayor said.

"That's berry not true! It was..." Strawberry said.

"I know," the mayor interrupted. "Well, actually it just came to me right after the wizard spoke to me this morning. This mystery started happening before you came, so you shouldn't be the cause of this."

"That's a relief!" Strawberry said.

"So, now we need you to solve this mystery. Without the gem berries, Emerald City will no longer be... emerald," the mayor said, looking somewhat pitiful.

"Well, I'm new to this place so I'm not sure. But..." I said, pausing briefly. "Is it possible to move them all into a greenhouse or something in Emerald City and cultivate them there?"

"Well, none of us have tried that," the mayor said. "But I think it's worth a try. Not all of them, though. I don't want to risk it."

"Alright, let's get to it immediately," I said.

With the help of the mayor and some of the berrykins, the two of us then put three of the remaining trees into a pot and brought them into Emerald City. Fortunately and conveniently, the city already had a greenhouse, so we could place the trees there. After planting the three trees inside the greenhouse, we decided to check the gem berry field once more. We walked there with the mayor, and to our surprise, when we arrived there was only one tree left. The other trees have withered with thin dark smoke coming out from the dead trunk.

"Oh, no," Strawberry said, running to one of the smoking trees.

"It happened again!" the mayor said.

"Something happened while we were away. But what?" I said while following Strawberry. Suddenly, I heard a familiar laugh coming from above. I looked at the source and found that the laugh came from Gladys, riding her winged monkey.

"I hate gem berries! I will destroy gem berries!" Gladys shouted while laughing.

"You no good witch!" I shouted. Gladys just simply laughed.

"But first, I'm getting rid of some meddlers!" She then pointed her wand at Strawberry, and a green lightning came out from it. I had no idea what was in my mind. My legs just moved by themselves, pushing my body to leap to Strawberry, pushing her out of the way. Immediately, I was the one who got hit by the spell instead of Strawberry, and I fainted, having no idea what happened next.

I woke up later, having no idea where I was and how long had passed. I then immediately noticed that I was on the bed in my bedroom. From the morning sunlight coming from the window, I could notice that I had slept for at least one night.

"Welcome back, Blackberry," a voice I immediately recognized as Glinda's said. I was still unaware of her position because I couldn't see much without my glasses.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You blocked Gladys' spell with your body. Because of that, you fainted for the rest of the day," she said.

"Oh, I see," I said. "What happened after that? Is Strawberry all right? And the last tree?"

"Yes, don't worry," she said. "After you blocked her spell, her wand broke into pieces and she went back home. Strawberry is fine, and the last tree has been moved to the greenhouse and planted along with the other three trees."

"Glad to hear that," I said. "Where's my glasses by the way?"

"Right here, you stupid kid," another voice I recognized as Peppermint's said.

"Uhh, what?" I asked as I took my glasses from Peppermint's hand.

"Jumping to Strawberry and taking her place for the attack, what made you do such thing?" she asked, sounding upset.

"I-I don't know. Maybe..." I said. "Maybe because once someone did it for me."

"You mean... Black Currant?" she asked.

"Yeah..." I said, getting up from bed. "What he did back then, might be the thing that drives me to do the same for my friends."

"Alright, I see what you mean and I appreciate that. We appreciate that," she said. "But do you know why I said that it was stupid?"

"Uhh, no. Why?" I asked. Suddenly, the rest of my friends came into the room, looking very delighted.

"Blackberry! I'm berry glad you're all right!" Strawberry said, hugging me.

"Uhh, Strawberry, I only fainted for one day but you act like I've been in coma for a long time," I said.

"I just can't understand you," Peppermint said while sighing. "You have the heart to sacrifice yourself for others, yet you still doesn't understand how we feel."

"Maybe I'm indeed that stupid," I said after chuckling.

Later, after having breakfast I went to the workshop to discuss with Henry about the possibility of making a generator fueled by gem berries. The rest of my friends and also Glinda were still in the dining room after I left, and a conversation happened without me knowing.

"So, do you think he should know that what he did was stupid?" Peppermint asked.

"Better not," Huck said.

"Yeah, better not," Orange said.

"It's not gonna be a good thing to make him look like a fool," Angel said.

"What he did was not stupid, everyone," Strawberry said. "It's true that I could actually reflect back Gladys' spell with this magic mirror Glinda gave me, and that was what I did when Gladys cast the spell on me again after Blackberry got hit by the spell. But we should remember that he didn't know that I had this magic mirror, and in his mind I was in danger and defenseless. He is a really good friend, and I will never replace him with anything."

"My oh my, Strawberry. You're right, very right! Yep, you sure do!" Ginger said.

"I think the same too!" Huck said.

"Hmph, well said," Peppermint said.

"By the way, is Gladys going to destroy the gem berries again?" Orange asked, looking at Glinda.

"I don't think so for now," Glinda said. "The reflected spell broke her wand, and making a new one takes some time."

"That's berry good to hear!" Strawberry said.

"But like I have told you when I gave you that mirror, it can only reflect a spell once. Making a new mirror takes longer than making a new wand, so you all need to be more careful from now on," Glinda said.

"We will! Thank you, Glinda!" Strawberry said.

-End of Chapter 1-


	3. Year 1, Chapter 2

**Year 1**

**Chapter 2: Berry Drifting**

Four days had passed after the day we moved four gem berry trees from the wilderness to a greenhouse in Emerald City. I had discussed with Henry about the possibility of using gem berries as fuel for the generator we were going to make, and in the end we were still uncertain whether it was a good idea or not. First, we were still blank on what kind of energy the gem berries contain. Second, it was still unknown whether the gem berry trees could be cultivated in Emerald City. And third, even if it turned out the gem berry trees could be cultivated, we still had no idea if the berrykins would allow us to do it in Emerald Castle courtyard. Henry's status as The Great Wizard of Oz would help, but the status wouldn't last forever, and it probably would cause a backlash when Henry decides to reveal the truth someday.

This morning, after we were done with our breakfast, a messenger from Emerald City came to Emerald Castle bringing a letter. Glinda was the one who received it, and after reading it she called all of us to meet her. It only took a few minutes until all of us gathered at the castle's balcony.

"What's the matter, Glinda?" Strawberry asked.

"This letter just came from Emerald City," Glinda said, showing the letter. "It came from the mayor."

"What does it say?" I asked.

"It says that he wants all of you to come to his office as soon as possible," she said.

"All of us? Why? What we're gonna do?" Angel asked.

"Are the berrykins still afraid of us?" Orange asked.

"Don't worry," Glinda said. "The gem berry trees in the greenhouse are growing well, and he wants to thank you all personally. He also has further reinforced the news that all of you are no threat to the berrykins."

"Really? That's berry good to hear!" Strawberry said, followed by everyone else getting relieved.

"Took him long enough," Peppermint said.

"So, are we going there now?" Huck asked.

"If none of us has anything important to do right now, I suggest so," I said.

"Nope, I'm as free as a bird in the sky right now, yessire!" Ginger said.

"I can teleport you all to the city hall if you want me," Glinda said.

"Thank you, Glinda. But I think we will walk. I don't want to surprise any of the berrykins," Strawberry said.

"I see. I'll only teleport you to the castle's front door then," Glinda said. "Shall we go now?"

Everyone agreed to go immediately, and Glinda cast her teleport spell to transport us all to the front door of Emerald Castle. From there, we walked to the city hall of Emerald City. The berrykins we passed along the way still whispered to each other when they saw us, but they neither escaped on sight nor did other negative reactions any longer. It only took us less than ten minutes until we arrived at the city hall. Thanks to Glinda, we could enter the mayor's office right away. He looked enthusiastic when he saw us coming.

"Ah, welcome to my office!" he greeted. "Please be seated over there!"

All of us including the mayor then sat on a set of chairs and sofa around a table.

"First of all, thank you for coming here," the mayor said. "As you may already know, the gem berry trees are growing really well in the greenhouse. We will not have to worry about running out soon. And for that, we thank you."

"Despite that, I think all the berrykins should still use them properly," I said.

"Of course! I will always try my best to remind my people on that point!" the mayor said.

"That's good to hear!" Angel said.

"Yeah, it really is!" Orange said.

"I believe now we're no longer monsters in the eyes of the berrykins, right?" I asked.

"Ah, that's the other reason I called you all here," the mayor said.

"Is something wrong?" Huck asked.

"You see, even though I have spread and reinforced the news that none of you brings any kind of threats, my people are still cautious about you," the mayor said.

"Even after all of that?" Peppermint said, looking upset.

"The thing is, we berrykins are always cautious to those we don't know. Even Glinda had her difficult times back then, a very long time ago" the mayor said.

"So, what do you expect us to do now?" Peppermint asked, still looking irritated.

"First, I want to tell you that next week will be the day of the annual Berry Drifting Festival," the mayor said.

"Berry Drifting Festival?" I asked.

"We berrykins love berries. We love seeing them grow all over the land, and we have this festival to convey our hope for that," the mayor said.

"What do people do in the festival?" Strawberry asked.

"The main part of the festival is our high priestess giving her blessing to a large basket full of berries, then the berries are distributed to all people, and finally they go to the river just outside Emerald City and throw their berries into the river. The berries will then drift away, bringing our hope for them to spread and grow throughout the land," the mayor said.

"That sounds like a berry beautiful festival!" Strawberry said.

"You bet it is! Yessire!" Ginger said.

"Apple wants berry drifting!" Apple said.

"Outside that, it is just like any other festival you probably know already," the mayor said. "Food stands, game stands, a stage, all in the town square."

"Can we go to the festival? Please?" Angel asked.

"Sure," the mayor said. "In fact, that is what I was going to ask you. By participating in the festival, the people will hopefully get to know all of you more, and eventually accept you."

"Wow, that's actually a very nice idea! Yep, it sure is!" Ginger said.

"Thank you berry much for the information!" Strawberry said.

"This is not mandatory, but I personally think it will be much better if you all perform on the stage," the mayor said.

"All of us at once?" Orange asked.

"Some of you or all of you, you make the call," the mayor said. "Just tell me within three days from now, and I'll add you to the list."

"Sounds good. That gives us enough time to plan ahead," I said.

"That's all from me," the mayor said. "Any questions?"

There was a few seconds of silence. I wanted to ask if I would be allowed to grow gem berries inside the Emerald Castle, but I was too hesitant to even say a word.

"Looks like that's it for today then," the mayor said, getting up from the chair he sat on.

"Once again, thank you berry much for the information!" Strawberry said. "We will let you know as soon as possible!"

"It was no problem," the mayor said. "Now if you don't mind, I've got a city to keep."

We then left the City Hall with the upcoming festival in mind. People were still looking cautious at us, but we just walked all the way to Emerald Castle while thinking what to perform at the festival. After we arrived at Emerald Castle, we gathered at the castle's conference room to discuss about what to perform and who would do the performance.

"Any idea?" I asked.

"I think we should not think to hard about it and just have fun performing anything we can come up with, right?" Ginger said.

"But is it really gonna work?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, we could just have fun back in Strawberryland because all the audiences were our friends," Orange said.

"Things probably work differently with the berrykins, huh?" Huck said.

"Glinda, do you know anything about the Berry Drifting Festival? What do people usually perform on the stage?" Strawberry asked.

"Nothing, actually," Glinda said, which surprised everyone else. "The berrykins are generally shy, so the stage has been used only for the mayor to give speech at the opening and closing of the festival, and also for the main event where the high priestess gives her blessing to the berries."

"So there's pretty much no information. In fact, this might be worse than I thought," I said.

"Why is that, Blackberry?" Strawberry asked.

"If there has been no performance on stage, ignoring the stage has probably become a habit for the berrykins," I said.

"Hmph! So there will be no point performing," Peppermint said. "Let's just forget it then."

"No, Peppermint! We should never give up!" Strawberry said. "And there's nothing wrong in trying."

"As always," Peppermint said. "So, do you have any great ideas now?"

"Well..." I said. "How about the thing all of you are really good at?"

"Huh? What is it?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, Blackberry. What thing we all are good at?" Orange asked.

"Singing," I said. "The amount of songs you all have sung is just numerous, not to mention that most of them were spontaneous."

"That's a berry good idea, Blackberry!" Strawberry said.

"That's a good one, Buddy!" Huck said.

"Oh yeah, we can sing loudly and there's no way nobody would notice us!" Ginger said.

"I guess that can work," Peppermint said. "But you forgot something."

"What is that, Peppermint?" Strawberry said.

"The instruments," Peppermint said. "Or maybe you expect to just use vocals like you have always been?"

"Well, as much as I don't like that point, you're right," I said. "On the rare times we use instruments, all of them were modern instruments."

"Glinda, do we have any kind of music instruments in here?" Strawberry asked.

"Unfortunately no, but I know some berrykins who are musicians," Glinda replied. "I think maybe if you perform together with them you will show that you can get along with the berrykins."

"You have a point there, Glinda," I said.

"Can we ask for their help?" Orange asked.

"Maybe the right question is, are they gonna help us?" Angel said.

"I will try asking them," Glinda said, and then she teleported away. Less than ten minutes later, she came back. "They agreed to help, and they will come soon."

"That's berry good to hear!" Strawberry said.

"I guess for now all we have to do is wait and see," I said, and everyone else agreed.

About half an hour later, three berrykins came to Emerald Castle. When they arrived at the conference room where all of us were still gathered, I was a bit surprised looking at how they looked.

"Hey, Huck," I whispered. "Don't you think they look like Blueberry, Rainbow, and Lemon?"

"Yeah, but let's not think about it," he whispered back.

"Hello, newcomers! I'm Lemon, and I play an ukulele!" the berrykin in yellow greeted.

"I'm Blueberry, and I play a flute!" the berrykin in blue greeted.

"I'm Rainbow, and I play a trumpet!" the berrykin in colorful outfit greeted.

"We are the Melodies of Emerald City!" all three said at the same time, while striking a pose.

"Hello, there! I'm Strawberry Shortcake! It's berry nice to meet you!" Strawberry said.

"Berry nice to meet you too!" Lemon said.

"Yeah! Absolooootely!" Blueberry said.

"Other berrykins might be still cautious about you, but we don't!" Rainbow said. "Because we know that you all are good people!"

"How nice of you!" Angel said.

"Thank you berry much for your trust on us!" Strawberry said.

"We heard from Glinda that you want to sing at the Berry Drifting Festival, and you need our help!" Lemon said.

"So here we are!" Rainbow said.

"We absoloootely are glad to help!" Blueberry said. "Tell us what to do!"

"Heh, I'm out of here," Peppermint said, walking away from the conference room. "I can't stay any longer with these weirdos."

"Please forgive Peppermint," Strawberry said. "She always has a hard time making new friends, but I'm berry sure she's a nice friend once you get closer to her."

"No worries! We understand!" Rainbow said, followed by the other berrykins agreeing.

So, the rest of the remaining days before the festival were spent for practicing the performance. I decided not to take part in it because it had become common knowledge since a long time ago that I couldn't sing. Peppermint also didn't take part and would rather watch, at least that was what she had said. The mayor was notified, and he added the group to the list. I really hoped everything would go well.

And so, the day of the Berry Drifting Festival came. Like the mayor had said, the town square of Emerald City was filled with various stands all over the place, with a large stage at the north part becoming the center of crowd's attention because the mayor was about to give the opening speech. Glinda had cast a spell on the stage, so any sounds coming from the stage would be greatly amplified, just like how microphone and loudspeakers worked in modern days.

"Hello, my people! Today I'm very happy to say that once again we are having our annual Berry Drifting Festival!" the mayor said, and the crowd cheered. "I'm also very happy to say that for the opening of this festival, we will have a special performance by our special guests! So, without further saying, Melodies of Emerald City and Children of Strawberryland!"

After saying those, the mayor left the stage and my friends entered along with the three berrykins. The ones who performed on the stage along with the three berrykins were everyone except me and Peppermint who were just watching. Only Strawberry and Angel who would be the main vocals. The rest would only provide additional vocals on moments where the song would be sung in choir.

"Ready?! One, and two! And three!" Strawberry said, and the group started singing a song which was pretty much the Berry Blossom Festival song with its lyrics modified to fit with Berry Drifting Festival theme. I was pretty impressed by the fact that they managed to sing well despite limited instruments. I looked around a bit, and I saw that the crowd watching seemed impressed just like me. Seeing my friends work together with the berrykins shed a light of hope that we would finally be truly accepted by the people of Emerald City.

After the song was over, the crowd cheered with an applause as my friends bowed down. The mayor then returned to the stage.

"Thank you for the impressive performance! Now, I declare to all people of Emerald City that the Berry Drifting Festival is officially open!" the mayor said. The crowd cheered once again and then they spread around the town square. All my friends got off from the stage, looking very happy and satisfied.

"Berry great job, everyone!" Strawberry said.

"You said it!" Huck said.

"I'm glad it went all right," Orange said.

"Yeah! I actually was really nervous I thought I was gonna mess up!" Angel said.

"Apple Dumplin' love singing!" Apple said.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Peppermint said. "It's still morning and the main part of this festival will be at nightfall."

"Well," Strawberry said. "Just walk around and enjoy ourselves!"

"Yeah! You're right, yessire!" Ginger said.

"Let's meet here again at nightfall then," I said. We then spread out to walk around the town square, enjoying the festivities. I actually wondered why the main part of the festival was done at nightfall. The lighting in Emerald City was barely enough to see things happening on the stage, let alone at the river. I had asked Glinda about it, but she only had told me to wait and see. I then decided to comply and not think too much about it. I would get to see the answer soon anyway.

Later, nightfall finally came and all people including stand owners gathered in front of the stage. A decorated basket, about the size of Ginger's trike and almost fully filled with various kinds of berries, was put at the center of the stage. As I had expected, even with the gem berry lighting around I still didn't have a clear view of the stage. They could at least put more lanterns around the stage, but why didn't they do so? While I was wondering, the mayor stepped on the stage and began a speech.

"Hello there, my people!" he said. "I hope you all have been enjoying the festivities of the Berry Drifting Festival! Now, without further saying, here is the moment we all have been waiting for: The Blessing!"

The crowd cheered as the mayor stepped off, and then they fell into silence quickly.

"Are you as excited as I am?" I whispered to Huck, who was standing right next to me.

"Of course. This is the first time I see a festival outside Strawberryland," he whispered back. "I bet the others feel the same too."

"I'm eager to see what the High Priestess looks like," I whispered. Before Huck could reply, suddenly a tune was heard from the stage. The melody was chilling, yet also soothing. I could recognize that the melody came from the instruments played by the three berrykins, but I couldn't see them anywhere. Then, someone came out from the back of the stage. I was surprised that it was Glinda, wearing white robes instead of her usual purple dress.

"The High Priestess is Glinda?" I said in confusion.

"Yes, since ten years ago," a berrykin standing next to me said. "Now please be quiet. This is a solemn moment."

"Oh, sorry," I said. I then quietly watched the stage. I was stunned watching Glinda, who gracefully waved her wand singing in a language I didn't understand. Some sparkles were coming out from the wand as she did those, making the view even more beautiful. The singing lasted for about five minutes, and then she took a gem berry from one of the stage's lighting. She then walked to the large basket, and she slowly put the gem berry into the basket. I couldn't see the berries inside the basket from where I stood, but I could notice that the glow from within the basket grew larger and larger. I then realized that somehow the other berries within the basket were shining just like gem berries. The music then faded away, and the crowd kept silent.

"Now, it is time for me to share the berries to all people," Glinda said. She then waved her wand and all the berries in the basket floated above the crowd. The berrykins then raised one hand, as if they were ready to receive the berries. My friends and I understood the clue, and we all raised our hand as well. The berries then scattered, and each of them floated right into the hand of the people. Either coincidence or not, I received a glowing blackberry. Having it in my hands felt somewhat comforting.

All people then went to the river near the outskirts of Emerald City. There was no lighting at all in the area, but the moonlight was bright enough to provide visibility. Every people then scattered to various parts of the river, which was shallow enough for them to cross without a bridge, and then one by one they put the berries in their hands into the water. I saw Strawberry doing the same to her glowing strawberry, and then she watched it drifting away with other berries. I then remembered to do the same with the glowing blackberry in my hands. I went down into the river, put my hands slowly into the water, and I watched as my glowing blackberry drifted away. All the glowing berries drifting away made a very beautiful view, like a large group of fireflies. As I watched them, I heard a soothing music played, with Strawberry singing.

_Berries _  
_On the table of life _  
_Wishing _  
_That they all could be mine_

_Berries, I love berries _  
_Made with sun from up above _  
_Berries, give me berries _  
_Pick them fresh with lots of love _  
_With lots of love_

_Bunches _  
_Of each flavor and type _  
_Wishing _  
_That they soon will be ripe_

_Berries, I love berries _  
_Made with sun from up above _  
_Berries, give me berries _  
_Pick them fresh with lots of love _  
_With lots of love_

_Berries In the fruit bowl or pie _  
_Wishing That they could multiply_

_Berries, I love berries _  
_Made with sun from up above _  
_Berries, give me berries _  
_Pick them fresh with lots of love _  
_With lots of love _  
_With lots of love _  
_Berries _  
_They're the fruit that I love._

-End of Chapter 2-


	4. Year 1, Chapter 3

Year 1

Chapter 3: A Visitor Comes

In the morning right after the Berry Drifting Festival, I woke up on my bed not remembering how I had ended up there. I didn't remember walking back to Emerald Castle and falling asleep on my bed. It felt as if all my memories from that point had been taken from me. I tried hard to remember, but it was of no use. I then began to worry that something was going wrong with my brain. However, I realized that I had just woken up so it probably was my own brain not working fully yet. I then searched for my glasses near the bed.

"Good morning, silly boy," a voice I easily recognized as Peppermint's said.

"Good morning, Peppermint," I said, putting my glasses on.

"Do you remember what happened last night? Or do I need to tell you?" she asked, still with her usual cynical face and voice.

"I don't remember anything, so I guess I need you to tell me," I said.

"Not long after Strawberry finished singing that night, we found you sleeping at the river bank," she said.

"Really? Oh yeah... I was sitting there being stunned by the view and Strawberry's singing..." I said. "But then, how did I end up right here?"

"None of us had the heart to wake you up, so in the end we asked Glinda to teleport you right into your bed," she said.

"I guess I owe her an apology for the bother," I said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah, you definitely do," she said. "She's still in the dining room with the others. Do it now."

Right after she finished her sentence, I got off from my bed and walked towards the dining room. Peppermint walked alongside me, but none of us said anything. Soon, we arrived at the dining room and as Peppermint had said, everyone else including Glinda and Henry were still there having breakfast.

"Good morning, Blackberry!" Strawberry greeted. "Did you sleep well?"

I knew Strawberry didn't intend to make me feel embarrassed, but I felt embarrassed hearing that regardless. I also felt that the others were secretly laughing at me for falling asleep in the middle of the festival. They probably weren't, but I still felt as if they were.

"Uhh... yeah," I said timidly. "Uhh... Glinda."

"Yes?" Glinda replied kindly.

"Thank you for what you did last night... and... sorry for the bother," I said, still timidly. I felt so embarrassed that I wanted to dig a deep hole and hide there, but of course I couldn't and wouldn't do that.

"It was no problem at all," Glinda replied. "It's already a common thing for me every year to teleport those who fall asleep during the berry drifting."

"Huh? You mean, I was not the only one last night?" I asked.

"Apple Dumplin' sleep too!" Apple said.

"Me too, actually," Orange said, looking a bit shy.

"And also quite a number of berrykins," Glinda said. "I was actually a bit surprised that the number of berrykins falling asleep at the river area last night was more than double compared to any previous years."

"I think it might be caused by Strawberry," Huck said.

"Huh? Me?" Strawberry asked, looking confused.

"I actually agree," Angel said. "Strawberry's singing last night was so beautiful and calming, it made people fall asleep."

"Yeah, Strawberry. The song was beautiful! Nobody can sing better than you!" Orange said.

"Thank you," Strawberry said after giggling and blushing a bit.

Later, I and Henry were in the workshop, and as it had always been, we had nothing to do other than discussing plans. Lack of proper tools and materials prevented us from making any actual progress. I had taken one gem berry from Emerald Castle lighting reserves for us to study if it could be used as fuel for a generator, but there was no significant result. We even tried eating it, and from it we only got a vague information that eating it had the effect of reducing fatigue. I had said vague because it could have been just a psychological effect, the name of which is known as Placebo Effect.

"No progress at all again today," I said after sighing.

"It's still morning, son!" Henry said, cheering me up.

"All we need for now is a generator, and we don't know how to make one," I said.

"Indeed. Being too used to modern technology is a flaw here," Henry said. "Maybe we need outside help after all."

"Outside help? Who?" I asked.

"I know that the..." Henry said, before Glinda teleported in, interrupting Henry's speech.

"You have a visitor," Glinda said.

"Ah, thank you for telling me," Henry said. "I should get going then."

Henry then ran inside the Emerald Castle, leaving me and Glinda at the workshop. We had a conversation as we walked towards the castle.

"Visitor?" I asked.

"Henry's name as the Wizard of Oz is well known throughout the land. Sometimes people come to him to speak, usually seeking help for a problem they are facing," Glinda replied.

"Now I'm wondering why he is that famous. Has he saved the land or something?" I asked.

"You can say so," she said. "It's quite a long story."

"Tell me the story someday," I said.

"I think Henry himself will be better at telling you the story," she said.

"You're probably right," I said. "By the way..."

"Yes?" she said.

"You have your own castle like your sister, right?" I said. "But why are you here everyday? I'm just wondering."

"Right, I haven't told you yet," she said while smiling. "Emerald Castle is my castle."

"What? Isn't this castle supposed to belong to the Wizard of Oz, or in other word, Henry?" I asked.

"You're not wrong," she said. "Emerald Castle is... Oh!"

"What is it?" I asked.

"Henry just gave me the sign that he is ready to receive the guest," she said, although I had no idea how Henry had given the sign from a distance. "Let's go to the guest room then."

Glinda then used her teleportation spell to bring the two of us to the guest room of Emerald Castle. When we got there, I saw someone sitting anxiously on one couch. That person was small, although still larger than berrykins. He grew thick brown beard and moustache, and he wore what seemed like a technician's working outfit. He seemed surprised seeing us.

"Glinda! Is the wizard ready yet?" he asked. "And who is that boy?"

"I will introduce you two later since the wizard is ready. We don't want to waste his time, right?" Glinda said. "Please go to his throne room immediately."

"You're right! I better get going!" the person said, and he immediately ran off to the throne room.

"Was that a dwarf?" I asked.

"A Berry Dwarf, yes. Though they usually are only called as dwarves," she replied. "They live quite far West of Emerald City. The dwarves are well known in Oz for their ability to construct machines for any need."

"Really? Maybe I could use their help for my project," I said.

"It's actually not a bad idea, but there is a problem," she said. "The dwarves are also well known for being short tempered and not willing to help and be helped by other races. In fact, this is the first time I see a dwarf come seeking the wizard's help in my entire life."

"Uhh, doesn't that mean there is a very serious threat which might come here as well?" I asked, getting worried.

"If that was the case, I would already notice," she said. "Don't worry. I'm sure it's not something dangerous."

"I sure hope so," I said. "By the way, you said 'your entire life'? How long has Henry been here?"

"Three years, but I have never said that there had been no wizard before Henry," Glinda said. "Anyway, there's a balcony inside the throne room. We can watch them from there."

Glinda then once again used her teleportation spell. When we arrived at the balcony, I saw that Huck was there as well. On the floor below, the dwarf was standing at a distance in front of the throne, and there was a fireball above the throne.

"Huck, why are you here?" I asked.

"I was just walking around," he replied. "Who's that dwarf who just arrived?"

"A visitor seeking for help," I said. We then watched the conversation between the dwarf and the fireball Henry was projecting.

"So, you're the one with desire to speak to me," the fireball said. "Now speak!"

"I need help! Our king's birthday is just two more weeks and we still don't know what gift we should give to him!" the dwarf said.

"Are you serious with that? Seeking my help for such petty thing?" the fireball said.

"How dare you saying that it is a petty thing!" the dwarf shouted loud. "Our king has helped the dwarves in more ways than you can possibly imagine! The people love him and want to give him something in return, but he always refuses to tell what he wants no matter what we do to make him talk! Years have passed without him receiving any gift from us, and now we absolutely want this to succeed! And that is why I seek your help! DON'T YOU DARE CALL THIS A PETTY THING!"

"As I expected from a dwarf. Such a short fuse," the fireball said. "So, what do you expect from me?"

"I only need a spell for projecting mind. If I can know the king's mind, people will know what he really wants!" the dwarf said.

"I want to respect people's privacy, and such spell violates it. I cannot help you on that," the fireball said.

"I'm not asking you to cast the spell on the king! Cast it on this machine!" the dwarf said, taking a small object from his pocket. The object looked like a small mechanical cube with a round core on one side.

"Ah, I see. A dwarven device," the fireball said. "I suppose it absorbs and stores a spell for future use."

"Indeed," the dwarf said.

"It's still violating the privacy of mind," the fireball said. "Normally I would reject this kind of request. However, I am now under a certain cirmcumstance so I will consider. Return to the guest room for now and wait until I call you again."

"Alright. I will be waiting," the dwarf said, and he left the throne room. The three of us then went downstairs to the hidden room where Henry operated his holographic device. He was still there sitting and looking a bit tired.

"Oh, hello, son," he said. "Did you see everything?"

"Yeah," I said. "I actually wonder now why as the wizard you were kinda... not friendly."

"I don't want to, but I have to," he said. "Otherwise all people will ask for help even for small problems they should be able to overcome themselves."

"I see," Huck said.

"Glinda, you can cast a mind projecting spell, right?" Henry said.

"Yes, but I don't really like doing it," Glinda said. "Why didn't you refuse the request and instead give advice like you usually do?"

"Son, remember when I said about outside help?" Henry asked, looking at me.

"The dwarves, right?" I said.

"Yes. If we successfully help them, maybe they will be willing to help us in our project," Henry said. "So, Glinda, could you please help us in this?"

"Well... Alright," Glinda said.

"Thank you, Glinda!" I said. "That means a lot for us!"

I then went with Glinda to the guest room where the dwarf was once again waiting anxiously. Huck also came with us because he was quite interested on the case and wanted to see how it would progress.

"Has the wizard given his answer?" the dwarf said when he saw us.

"He agreed," Glinda said. "As his representative, I will be the one casting the spell on the machine."

"That will do! Please do it right away!" the dwarf said, taking the machine he had shown before and putting it on a table. Glinda then waved her wand in a certain pattern and began murmuring words I didn't understand. After about half a minute, her wand let out a glow and she pointed it at the machine. The wand then shot a purple ray towards the machine, which absorbed the ray. The core of the machine then began to glow with purple color.

"Does that work?" I asked. Immediately, the machine blew up with black smoke.

"No... No, no! NO!" the dwarf said in frustration, repeatedly stomping the floor hard with his right leg. "The magic was too strong for this machine to contain!"

Both me and Huck then looked at Glinda, who seemed to get the message immediately.

"You two want me to go to his hometown and use the spell directly on the king, right?" Glinda said after sighing. "Alright, I will go."

"Really?" the dwarf asked. "Oh thank you! Our people will appreciate it very much!"

"By the way, let me introduce you all," Glinda said. "These two boys are Blackberry Bun and Huckleberry Pie. They, along with six girls, came from a far place and they are staying in Emerald Castle for a while."

"Nice to meet you two! I'm Boli Gearcraft, but you can call me with just Boli!" the dwarf said.

"You can call me with just Huck!" Huck said. "And for him, just Blackberry will do fine."

"Nice to meet you... B-B-Boli," I said timidly. I had no idea why my old syndrome struck me again.

"Hey, I might have a short fuse like the wizard told me, but I don't bite," the dwarf said, looking slightly upset.

"Please bear with him. He's just shy," Huck said, trying to defend me.

"Alright, that's fine," Boli said. "Let's get going then. You two can come too. Maybe you'll be of some use."

"Are we going with Glinda teleporting us?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, I cannot do that," Glinda said. "Dwarves are partially immune to magic. I better not tell what will happen if I try to teleport a dwarf..."

"Yeah, better not. I already feel sick now..." I said with a better-not-spoken image appearing in my mind.

"How far is your place from here?" Huck asked.

"I've never measured it, but it will take about ten days to walk there," Boli said. "But hey, I've never said that I came here walking."

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Come with me and see for yourself," he said. All of us then followed him to Emerald Castle's front gate, and what we found there was a four-wheeled vehicle with a large engine at its back side. The vehicle had seats enough for four people including the driver. There was no roof or such thing to cover the seats. "Behold my land vessel!"

"Uhh... land vessel?" I asked.

"Yeah! A vessel, but on land! I made it myself!" Boli said. "With this, we will arrive in Dwarven Capital within five hours!"

"That's great, but... do you have a better name for it?" I asked. "Land vessel kinda sounds... I dunno."

"What?! Are you telling me the name is not good? Then tell me! What should I name it with!?" he said, sounding really upset. I was quite surprised that what I had thought as a simple question could upset him so much.

"Uhh... How about... car?" I said. "Car, short of 'carriage'. It carries you. How does that sound?"

"Hmph! That's the simplest and laziest suggestion I've ever heard!" he said. "But as simple and lazy as it sounds, it works in my ears! That's it! From now on, this is a car!"

"We better tell the others that we are leaving," Huck said. "Can't have them wondering and worrying about us."

"Worrying about what, huh Blackberry and Huckleberry?" suddenly Ginger asked from behind us. "Are you going somewhere? Where are you going to go?"

"Ginger, you surprised me," I said. I then told her about everything I knew so far, except the reason for helping the dwarf because I didn't want Boli to know about it yet.

"I see. Don't worry, I will let the others know. I sure will, yessire!" she said. "Better go now before you miss the dwarf king's birthday."

"We'll be back as soon as we can," I said.

"I believe you will!" she said.

"Alright, it's ready! Get on!" Boli said loudly from his seat. Huck then sat next to Boli, while I and Glinda sat behind them. The car engine then roared to life and Boli put on his goggles. "You all should wear these too! Don't want dust to hit your eyes!"

Right after saying that, Boli gave each of us another pair of goggles. Glinda refused and put a transparent magical barrier around her eyes.

"Maybe someday you can build a cover for this car so we don't have to wear these," I said, putting on the goggles and wearing my glasses in front of it.

"I did it once, but I like the breeze!" Boli said. "Alright! Here we go! Blast off!"

The car then accelerated fast and left Emerald Castle within seconds. I was very surprised by the sudden acceleration, and later I was a bit scared by the high speed. I wanted to buckle up, but there was no seat belt in the car. Fortunately, a few minutes later the car slowed down to a fair speed.

"Hey, Boli," I said.

"Yes?" Boli said while still driving.

"Can you tell me about the Dwarven Capital?" I asked.

"Not much about the capital since I'm not into history," he said. "All I can tell is that it is much larger than Emerald City, and we are thriving thanks to the king."

"What can you tell me about the king then?" I asked.

"He is the greatest king I've ever known!" he said. "He is not only The King of The Dwarves, he is also the richest dwarf in the whole kingdom. He knows all about how economy runs, and he put his knowledge into good use. Without him, our kingdom would be just a bunch of simple, poor villages. I'm not saying that he's perfect, though. He has his downsides. But all the people love him and that's all that matters. Oh yes, he was an adventurer and treasure hunter in his younger days."

"Nobody's perfect," I said. "So, what are his downsides if you can tell me?"

"Well, he is very strict in enforcing prices. There's no such thing as discount in his dictionary, and anyone who owes him money must settle it within the time agreed upon or he will confiscate things without mercy," Boli said. "On a related note, he is quite greedy. I believe I don't need to explain that."

"I think I'll just wait and see for myself," I said.

"Is this trip really going to take five hours?" Huck asked.

"I can trim it to four, or even three, if I speed up. But it will be too dangerous," Boli said.

"Oh man, this will be a boring trip," Huck said.

"Just sleep through it. I'll be fine," Boli said.

"As if I can sleep right here," Huck said.

"Glinda, do you know tranquilizer spell?" I asked.

"Uhh, yes," Glinda said. "You want me to cast it on you, right?"

"If it doesn't have any bad side effects, yes please," I said.

"Cast it on me too, I guess. Sitting here for five hours straight isn't going to be fun for me," Huck said.

"Alright, here I go. Sleep tight," Glinda said, waving her wand a bit. Some sparkles came out from it and surrounded both my and Huck's head. I then felt really sleepy, and I fell asleep within the next minute.

-End of Chapter 3-


	5. Year 1, Chapter 4

Year 1

Chapter 4: Dark Forest

"Hey, Blackberry! Wake up!" a voice, which I recognized as Huck, said while shaking my body.

"Eh, what? Have we arrived?" I asked, waking up. I remembered that the four of us: me, Glinda, Huck, and a dwarf named Boli Gearcraft, were on the way to the Dwarven Capital in order to figure out what gift the Dwarf King wanted for his birthday, which would come in two weeks. The distance between Emerald City and Dwarven Capital was quite far that even with Boli's car it would take five hours to get there. Therefore, I had asked Glinda to cast a tranquilizer spell on me so I would sleep through the trip.

"Actually, no," Huck said. "We're kinda stuck."

"Eh, what?" I asked. "How come?"

"I'm not sure!" Boli said from behind the car. "I'm trying to work on it!"

"How far have we gone?" I asked, getting off from the car.

"About halfway," Glinda said. She was standing right behind Boli.

"And out of all places, we're stuck right here!" Boli said while still working.

"Here? Here what?" I asked. I looked around and only noticed that we had stopped not far from a forest. "Does that forest have something bad in it?"

"No, it's just a regular forest!" Boli said. "I meant this open field! We have no cover and I'm worried about the sunlight! Or rain! Or worse, storm!"

"Ah, come on! Be strong!" Huck said.

"I am strong! I'll show you if you want me to!" Boli said.

"No need," Huck said. He then looked at me. "Hey, Blackberry. How about we explore the forest while waiting for Boli to fix the car?"

"Huh? I'm not sure about that," I said. "We don't know what's in there, and we might get lost."

"Don't worry. I'll protect you," Huck said. "Although you're probably right about getting lost."

"I can help you on that," Glinda said. She then waved her wand and conjured a glowing pink orb about the size of a baseball ball. She then gave the orb to Huck. "Try walking around while having that in your hand."

Huck then walked around the car, and I noticed that every few seconds a pink sparkle fell from the orb. The sparkles were glowing bright enough to be noticed even under sunlight.

"Cool! With this we can trace back our trail!" Huck said.

"Just be careful exploring. If you sense any trouble, come back immediately," Glinda said.

"We will! Thank you for the help," Huck said. "Let's go, buddy!"

"Well, alright," I said. The two of us then left Glinda and Boli and walked into the nearby forest. We had quite a bit of fun exploring the forest, which reminded us of the days back in Strawberryland. Huck would often bring me out from my house to walk around the forest between our houses, just so I would not be isolated from outside world. At least that had been what he had said, but I actually believed that it had been true.

We kept walking around until we were under a rather tall tree compared to other trees around.

"Hey, let's climb this tree!" Huck said.

"Huh? Climb this tree? Are you serious? This large tree?" I asked.

"The trunk has a lot of spots we can step on. It's actually easier than it seems," he said. "Don't worry. We're only going for that large branch, not all the way to the top."

"Well, maybe I can if it's only that branch," I said, looking at the branch Huck meant. Its location was about as high as Huck's fort tower.

"I'll put this orb in my pocket for now. I need both hands to climb," he said, putting Glinda's orb into his pocket. We then began climbing the tree with him going first and me going right below him. Like he had said, the tree trunk had many spots I could grab and step on, so even someone like me could climb the tree with enough effort. The main problem was my stamina. By the time I reached the branch, I was already panting heavily with massive exhaustion. Huck, who was already sitting at the branch, had to pull me for the final step. Finally, I was able to sit next to Huck on the branch.

"Finally," I said, still panting heavily.

"Great job, buddy!" Huck said, patting me on the back. "Oh hey! Hahaha!"

"What's funny?" I asked.

"Your hair is full of pink sparkles!" he said, still laughing. "Let me clear those."

"Eh, what? How?" I asked as Huck dusted the sparkles off my hair.

"Maybe they fell off my pocket when we climbed," he said. "Alright, done."

"Thanks," I said.

"So, what do you think so far about this trip?" he asked.

"I don't have much to say yet, especially that this forest exploration is not supposed to be part of the trip," I said. "Though this feels better than sleeping all the way to Dwarven Capital."

"I second that," he said. "Well, I actually wonder what the king actually wants for his coming birthday."

"I kinda wonder about that too," I said. "Though I'm kinda worried."

"Why is that?" he asked.

"Boli said that the king was the richest of all dwarves. I'm afraid what he wants will be something difficult or expensive to get," I said.

"Maybe he doesn't want anything because seeing his people prosper is already a gift for him," he said.

"I frankly doubt that. Boli said that the king is also pretty greedy," I said.

"And also a treasure hunter in his younger days," he said.

"If what he wants is a treasure somewhere, it will be a difficult gift, if not impossible," I said.

"Indeed. I hope it will not be the case," he said.

"Do you think we should go back now?" I asked.

"Yeah, Boli might have fixed the car already," he said. "Let's go back."

"You first," I said. "Don't want the sparkles on my hair again."

"You're right," he said after chuckling.

The two of us then climbed down the tree. I had a harder time than when I had climbed up because I couldn't see where I should step on next. Huck tried to guide me, but my fear slowed me down greatly.

"Hey Huck," I said, still clinging to the tree trunk with my face straight to it.

"What?" he said.

"How far I am to the ground?" I asked.

"Not near enough to jump off from right there," he replied.

"Heh, are you a mind reader?" I said.

"Of course not. It's just that I have known you long enough," he said. "Now lower your right foot slowly. There's a spot you can step on there."

"A-alright," I said, being overcome by fear of falling.

In the end, I finally reached the ground and immediately lied down on it, panting heavily.

"I'm so pathetic," I said.

"Yeah, you're pathetic," Huck said.

"Aw come on! I actually expected some consolation!" I said, fully aware that he was kidding. The two of us just laughed after that. After resting for a few more minutes, the two of us then started walking back to the place where we had come. However...

"Hey, Blackberry..." Huck said. "How can we get back?"

"By following the trail of sparkles, right?" I said.

"Yeah, but..." Huck said. "Which one should we follow?"

"Of course... Oh no..." I said, noticing the fact that the pink sparkles were on the ground in every direction. "How could this happen?"

"The ones I dusted off from your hair were blown around by winds, and they kept falling down from my pocket while we were sitting on the branch," he said.

"What should we do now?" I asked.

"Calm down," Huck said. "Let's just drop this orb here and try walking straight."

We then walked straight after Huck dropped the orb to the ground, hoping that we eventually would be out of the forest. However, some minor obstacles such as small river, land elevation, large rocks, and other things, might had curved our way without us noticing, because we walked for what felt like hours and we were not even close to the exit.

"Are we really lost now?" I asked. I was exhausted by all the walk.

"I want to say no, but that would be lying," Huck said.

"Heh, I thought so," I said. "I guess we only can sit down and wait now."

"You mean waiting until Glinda and Boli come for us? Well, you have a point actually," he said. "But they won't find us easily in the middle of these trees. Let's look for a slighly open field."

"Alright," I said. We then walked some more, looking for a slightly open field. Fortunately, we found one within less than ten minutes later. However, on that open field there was also a strange house. What made it strange was the fact that the whole house seemed to be made from cookies, biscuit, and other kinds dry food.

"What a strange house," Huck said as we stood right in front of the house. "Do you think we can eat some parts of it?"

"Better not," I said. "It doesn't belong to us."

"Well, you have a point," Huck said.

"Strangely, this house seems familiar..." I said.

"In any case, let's try knocking the door. Maybe someone who lives here can tell us the way out of this forest," Huck said.

"Hmm..." I said, trying to remember. Huck then walked to the front door and knocked the door.

"Hello! Anybody home?" Huck shouted. "We're lost here and we need some help!"

"Come on, why can't I remember?" I said. Huck then repeated what he had just done, and then I suddenly remembered.

"Huck! We have to get away from here!" I said, grabbing Huck's left wrist and dragging him to run away with me.

"Huh? What?" Huck asked while running.

"I just remembered! This is the same as the cookie house I saw in one of Blueberry's fairy tale books!" I said. "In the tale, the one who lived in the cookie house was a wicked witch who kidnaps any kids that eat her house!"

"Really? But we are not in a fairy tale now. Maybe this one is different!" he said.

"We can never be sure! We've only lived in Oz for less than two weeks! Better safe than sorry!" I said, then suddenly I tripped on something and fell down.

"Blackberry! Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine but..." I said, looking at what had made me fall. It turned out that my right ankle got entangled by a tree root, not because of me tripping but because the tree root was alive and actively trying to pin me down. I tried to get free, but the root wouldn't let go. Instead it kept creeping up my leg, slowly wrapping my right leg up to the knee.

"Huck, help me!" I said.

"I'm trying!" Huck said, trying to pull the root away from my leg but to no avail.

"Come on, Huck! The witch could be here in any moment!" I said in panic. "Ah, no that's not it! Huck, you should run away and tell Glinda!"

"There's no chance I would leave you here!" Huck said, still trying to pull the root away.

"It's the best chance we got, Huck!" I said. "You must go and tell Glinda about this!"

"It will be too late..." Huck said, looking at the direction we had come from. There was someone clad in dark robe walking slowly to us. The face of the person was concealed by the hood he wore and the lush trees blocking most sunlight didn't help at all. I couldn't even determine whether the person was a man or a woman. He then pointed a wand towards Huck and shot a red lightning. Huck tried to evade, but the bolt was too fast and he took a direct hit. He got thrown back by the bolt, but luckily a pile of leaves cushioned his fall.

"Ugh, that kinda hurt," Huck said, getting up.

"Huck! Are you alright?" I asked.

"Pretty much," he said. "But I'm not sure if I'll be as lucky if he attacks again."

The mysterious figure then seemed to look at me. He then pointed his wand towards me and shot the same red lightning. I braced my face with my arms and closed my eyes, prepared to receive anything that would come. I then heard a loud banging noise, but I didn't feel anything. I then slowly opened my eyes, and then I saw that there was someone standing in front of me. It was Boli. He had saved me by standing in front of me and taking the attack. I noticed small smokes coming from his chest.

"Heh, not bad," Boli said. He then patted his own chest. "Come on! Give me more!"

The hooded person then launched another attack which hit Boli directly, but Boli didn't even budge from his standing position. The hooded person attacked again, but once again Boli stood still and firmly. I remember Boli being small, smaller than me, and he still was. However, somehow I felt that the Boli standing right in front of me was really big like a giant.

"I believe you know about dwarves being partially immune to magic," Boli said in loud voice. The hooded man launched another attack, but this time Boli blocked it with his right hand instead of letting the attack hit his chest. "But I'm a special dwarf. Not only that I'm almost totally immune to magic, I can launch back the magic at whoever casts it!"

Right after saying his last sentence, with his right hand Boli punched towards the hooded person who was still too far for a punch to hit. A red lightning similar to the ones I had just seen came out from Boli's fist and directly hit the hooded person. The hooded person was thrown away and fell to the ground. Immediately, the roots which bound my right leg came loose. Boli then turned around, quickly picked me up, and carried me on his right shoulder. He also did the same to Huck with his left shoulder. He did all those so quickly that my glasses fell off my face to the ground.

"Ah, my glasses!" I said.

"We gotta scram from here now while he's stunned!" Boli said while running really fast carrying both of us. He carried me with my head facing behind him unlike Huck, so I could still see, although very blurry, the hooded person slowly getting up.

"Who is that guy actually?" Huck asked.

"I have no idea!" Boli replied. "Let's just get back to the car and get away from here fast!"

"Can you find the way?" I asked.

"I see the way, no problem!" Boli said.

"Glinda made a waypoint for us, Blackberry!" Huck said. I couldn't see what he meant, but I was glad to know it. Within a minute, we were out of the forest and Boli's car was parked right there with Glinda already sitting on her seat. He then put us down and quickly jumped to the driver's seat. I and Huck also jumped to our seats, and immediately Boli turned the engine on. The car engine roared to life, and then the car accelerated away from the forest. I felt so relieved for successfully getting away from the forest, and then I fell asleep on my seat.

Meanwhile, inside the forest, the hooded person walked a bit from the position where he had fallen. He looked down to the ground and found something. He then picked up the thing, which turned out to be my glasses which had fallen when Boli had picked me up. He then looked at the glasses for a minute.

"Wizard of Oz..." the person said, and then my glasses vanished from his hand with a blue flame.

I didn't know how long I had fallen asleep. I woke up because Glinda woke me up.

"What? What happened?" I asked.

"We're almost there! That's what happened!" Boli said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Pretty much," I said. "I was so relieved that we got out from that forest."

"Huh? What are you saying? What forest?" Boli asked.

"You saved me and Huck from a wicked witch in that forest, don't you remember?" I asked.

"As far as I know, we never stopped," Huck said.

"Huck, you don't remember too?" I asked. "Glinda?"

"Maybe you were dreaming, Blackberry," Glinda said.

"But it felt so real. Boli saved me and Huck from a wicked witch, and we ran away while that witch was stunned. I lost my glasses and..." I said. "Eh?"

My speech was interrupted because I just realized that my glasses were still there on my face. I then began to doubt whether all those experiences in the forest were real or just a dream.

"I guess I was dreaming," I said. "Though I've never had any dream that felt so real. Hey, Boli."

"Yes?" Boli said.

"Are you, unlike other dwarves, almost totally immune to magic, and can launch back spells thrown at you?" I asked.

"Wha...? How did you know?" Boli asked back.

"That was what you said when you saved us, and you did exactly that," I said. "You blocked the wicked witch's attack and launched it back."

"Well, actually it's true but it's not like what it seems," Boli said. "My clothes are actually made from rare material that wards off magic. I can launch back spells because of this ring I wear on my right hand. It's actually the same machine you saw back then, only modified to be able to be worn as a ring."

"Well, now I really doubt that it was just a dream, but let's put it aside for now," I said.

"Indeed, we will arrive in five minutes. Better be ready to meet the king," Boli said.

"Yeah," I said.

The car kept running through the open field towards the Dwarven Capital, and without anybody noticing, a pink sparkle fell off from my hair to the ground. The sparkle kept sparkling for a few seconds as the car got further away, until it vanished completely.

-End of Chapter 4-


	6. Year 1, Chapter 5

Year 1

Chapter 5: Treasure Hunt

"Hey, you just said that we were almost there, but I still don't see a city," I said to Boli, who was still driving.

"That's because the Dwarven Capital is built not to be seen from afar," Boli said.

"What do you mean by that?" Huck asked.

"Just wait a minute," Boli said. "After we pass this slightly uphill road, you will see."

As Boli had said, the road the car was running on was slightly uphill. I could see the peak of the slope and it was not far away. I was curious on how the Dwarven Capital looked like, because Boli had said that it was much larger than Emerald City. Emerald City itself was actually not that large, but I still wanted to see how much larger the Dwarven Capital was.

"Alright," Boli said as the car reached the peak of the uphill road and stopped there. "Welcome to Dwarven Capital."

I was stunned by the view I saw. The whole city was located right at the bottom of a very large land depression. The shape of the land depression was roughly round, and I could roughly guess that the size of Dwarven Capital was about the same as Pearis. The depth of the land depression was not too deep, about half as high as the tower in Pearis, the name of which I unfortunately had forgotten, but it was still deep enough that none of the buildings were taller than the depth. From that point I could understand why the Dwarven Capital couldn't be seen from afar.

"I'm out of words," I said.

"That's the Dwarven Capital? Awesome," Huck said.

"Alright, let's go to meet the king!" Boli said, running the car again. Because the slope towards the city was pretty steep, the road was made into a series of hairpin turns. It took quite a while until we arrived at the bottom of the depression and went straight into the city. The first thing I noticed as the car ran slowly through it was that unlike Emerald City where the buildings were made from wood and stone, all the buildings in Dwarven Capital were made from stone and metal. A lot of dwarves were walking on the road, which made me notice that there were no other cars in the city.

"Hey, Boli," I said. "For a city this large, I don't see any other cars."

"Because the king banned all cars," Boli said.

"What? Why?" Huck asked.

"There was a time when all people had a car they had made themselves," Boli said. "Imagine how the road had become when all people had a car."

"I can imagine that," I said with an image of a total traffic jam in my mind.

"Therefore, the king gave an order for all people to disassemble their cars," Boli said.

"Huh? Then why your car is still here?" Huck asked.

"I'll tell you later. We have arrived," Boli said, stopping the car. All of us then got off from the car. I looked around expecting to see a castle, but instead all I saw was a marketplace.

"Where's the castle?" I asked.

"You mean the king's castle? Ha! You won't find him there now!" Boli said, laughing a bit.

"Huh? So where is he now?" I asked.

"Just follow me," Boli said, walking to the marketplace. The three of us followed Boli through the marketplace. While walking I looked around, seeing all the people, merchants and customers alike, doing their business. Some merhants were advertising their items through shouting around, some others were dealing with a customer, and there were a few who just sat down in silence. Not long later, I noticed a very lively merchant who shouted loud about his items for sale and how they would make good bargains. Quite a number of people stood around him, and most of them ended up buying his merchandise with satisfied face. I somewhat couldn't believe it because the merchant looked quite old with his white hair, white moustache, white beard, and a few noticeable wrinkles on his face, yet he acted as if he were still young.

"That one merchant sure is lively despite his old age," I said.

"I second that," Huck said. "Sorta unbelievable."

Boli then chuckled and said, "Behold the king of the dwarves! King Wulfgar Goldhunt!"

"What?! That merchant is the king?!" Huck said, completely surprised.

"That's... unexpected," I said.

"Yes, our king is also the most successful merchant in the kingdom! I already said that he is the richest dwarf, right?" Boli said.

"So, what are we going to do now?" I asked.

"I don't think I can cast the spell in public like this," Glinda said. "People might misunderstand that as an assault."

"Yeah, no way we can do that," Huck said, scratching his head.

"Heh! Watch this!" Boli said. He then shouted loud. "Attention! Prime Minister Boli speaking! All people, commence Birthday Protocol! Effective immediately!"

Right after Boli shouted, all people who had heard him stood in silence for a few seconds, then they looked at King Wulfgar.

"Oh, shoot!" King Wulfgar said, immediately jumping from his stand and running away. All people around then chased him. I and Huck were both surprised on what we saw, and we had quite an amount of questions in our mind.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions now," Boli said. Both me and Huck nodded. "I'm the second in command in this kingdom. That is the main reason why I could keep my car. Birthday Protocol is a special order I can issue once a year. When it is in effect, King Wulfgar must be captured and brought to the city square for public interrogation. About his birthday present that is."

"And you do this every year?" Huck asked.

"Yes! Every year!" Boli said.

"That kinda sounds weird..." I said. "I mean, if you're only second in command, the king can cancel that order anytime he wants, right?"

"Indeed, but he has never done that in all these years! Strange, don't you think?" Boli said. "Anyway, let's go to the city square."

We then went back to the car and rode it to the city square. Along the way, I saw King Wulfgar being chased by a lot of people. The view was quite unbelievable because King Wulfgar, despite his old age, ran really fast and jumped around obstacles like they were nothing. The view didn't last long because soon he disappeared into an alley with many people still chasing him.

"Do you think they will catch the king? He is so fast," I said.

"No worries! He can't do much if the entire kingdom is chasing him!" Boli said with a little laugh.

"He somewhat looked happy," Huck said.

"Maybe he actually likes doing that? Nobody knows!" Boli said. "Anyway, we're almost at the city square."

"I hope this will go well," I said.

As Boli had said, we soon arrived at the city square of Dwarven Capital. It was considerably more spacious than the one in Emerald City. One strange thing I noticed about the city square was the presence of a stone throne right in the center. Boli parked his car right next to the throne, and we all got off the car.

"Now all we have to do is wait," Boli said.

"Do the people always catch the king?" I asked.

"They never succeed!" Boli said, laughing.

"Huh? I kinda don't get it," Huck said. "How can Glinda cast the spell if the king won't be here?"

"Just wait and see!" Boli said. Soon enough, we saw the king still running away from a huge crowd, looking pretty exhausted. He ran straight to the throne, and then he did a high spinning jump which ended with him sitting on the throne. It was quite visible that he was running out of breath.

"Alright, I've had my workout. Let's just get this over with," King Wulfgar said. "No, I don't want any presents, at all. End of stor... hey! What are those humans doing here?! Isn't that one the witch from Emerald City?! Don't tell me..."

"Birthday Protocol, level two! Effective immediately!" Boli shouted, interrupting the king's speech. Immediately, the crowd which had chased the king swarmed him from every direction. I couldn't see what was happening, but I could hear the king screaming angrily. When the crowd finally cleared, we saw that the king was still sitting on the throne, all chained up to it. He looked very angry.

"Boli! How dare you break our principle of not getting any help from other races!" the king shouted.

"I just have to! Every year, Birthday Protocol always ended up the same, and this time I'm going to see it end differently!" Boli said.

"Forget it! If I get a birthday present from you, I will have to give you a present too! And all people will follow!" the king said. "I have never asked for birthday present anyway, and never will!"

"We only need to know what you want now," Boli said.

"Forget it! I will shut my mouth!" the king said.

"Which is the reason I brought Glinda here," Boli said. "Glinda, please proceed."

"Are you sure about this?" Glinda asked.

"Oh we are as sure as we can be!" the crowd around us said at the same time.

"I be cursed! I'm surrounded by traitors!" the king shouted. Glinda then once again began murmuring words I didn't understand while waving her wand in a certain pattern. After half a minute, she shot a purple ray right at the king's head. Right after that, there was a large bright purple cloud forming above the king. Little by little a blurry image appeared on the cloud, and I understood that the cloud would act as a large screen for displaying the king's projected mind.

"Now with the mind projection spell on you, we will get the information we need from you," Boli said. "What do you want for your birthday?"

"I want to punish you!" the king shouted, and a picture of Boli being kicked hard at the behind by the king appeared on the cloud.

"Ouch..." Huck said.

"And I want to expel the humans out of here!" the king shouted, and a picture of me, Huck, and Glinda being chased out of the city appeared on the cloud.

"Glinda, I think you should amplify the spell to project his subconsciousness," Boli said.

"Boli! Your name will be crossed out from my will!" the king shouted as Glinda shot another purple ray at his head.

"Your majesty have told me that three times before during this week, remember?" Boli said.

"Alright! Fine! I'll play along!" the king said. Soon, on the cloud we saw a picture of the king sitting on a golden throne, followed by a picture of a castle sparkling with jewels embedded on the walls. "See? Now you know!"

"Do you seriously think we can afford a golden throne?" Boli said.

"Just give up!" the king said while laughing a bit.

"Is there anything that is affordable but you don't have?" I asked. The king looked at me without saying anything, and then a new image appeared on the cloud. It looked like some sort of yam, and the color was pale red combined with dark brown which made it looked like it was covered in dirt.

"What is that?" Huck asked.

"Beats me," Boli said. "At least it looks cheap."

"That's... Dirt Yam," Glinda said. The king then laughed.

"You're well-versed, witch!" the king said. "That's right! It's a Dirt Yam! It's barely edible and tastes just like its name! Just give me one and I'll be happy!"

"Is he really serious?" Huck asked Boli.

"We just need to find out," Boli said. "So, your majesty, please tell us your story about it."

"I'm already in a bind, and literally. So whatever," the king said. "Give me a second to recall my memories."

Soon, a new image appeared on the cloud. It was a young dwarf walking clad in exploring outfit, complete with a large backpack and excavation tools. It took me a few moments to realize that the depicted dwarf was King Wulfgar when he had been young.

"When I was young, I was a treasure hunter," the king said. "This story happened about 40 years ago when I stumbled on a legend about an ancient fort named Markash. During its active days, the fort had been used to keep treasures for funding wars. When I found out about the legend, the fort has been abandoned for centuries, but the treasures were still there."

"How did you know that the treasures were still there?" Boli asked.

"I never hunt a particular treasure without gathering information about it first, silly!" the king said as a new image appeared. It was young Wulfgar reading books in a library. "I stumbled on that legend when I read a published journal of a treasure hunter. It was written there that his team tried to take the treasure inside the fort but failed. In fact, everyone other than himself perished during the expedition."

"Quite a sad story," Huck said.

"Anyway, when I got to the location, there was a village, a very poor village, which coincidentally was inhabited by dwarves like me, I went straight to the chief to ask for detailed information," the king said. "Hey, is this cloud able to make sound?"

"No, but that can be easily arranged," Glinda said, shooting another ray at the cloud.

"Good. Now here's the conversation between me and the chief of the village," the king said as a new image appeared. In the image there were two dwarves talking. One of them was young Wulfgar, and the other was probably the village chief. The chief wore a tunic which seemed very worn out.

"You're looking for Fort Markash? It's up there on the peak of that hill," the chief said, pointing at a tall hill right next to the village.

"Are there treasures inside the fort?" young Wulfgar asked.

"Yes, the treasures are still there in Fort Markash, a lot of gold, silver, diamond, you name it," the village chief said. "Our ancestors were very rich."

"But why this village looks poor?" young Wulfgar asked.

"The path to the treasure is rigged with traps. Only the village shaman knew the safe way to the treasure, but he unfortunately passed away before the information could be inherited. That is why our people are now very poor," the chief said. "Pity, the treasure could be used for our well being."

"I understand that the treasures belong to your people," young Wulfgar said. "I will find them, and as my reward for finding it, 75% of them will be for me."

"Like I said, our people are very poor. 25% won't be enough for them," the chied said.

"I will be putting my own life at stake, you know. Alright, 60% for me," young Wulfgar said.

"Alright, that's a deal," the chief said, and the two of them shook hands. "To stamp our deal, let us eat our traditional food together!"

"Sure!" young Wulfgar said, and the two of them walked to a nearby house. Right outside it, there was a woman dwarf cooking something in a cauldron.

"Here is our traditional food, cooked by my dear wife. The main ingredient of this is highly poisonous if not cooked with our special recipe," the chief said as the woman took something from the cauldron and gave it to young Wulfgar. It was a Dirt Yam, cooked whole. "The name is Dirt Yam. You bite first and I will follow."

"Alright," young Wulfgar said. He looked at the yam and took a bite. I noticed his eyes suddenly opened wide, which meant the taste was a shock to him. He then swallowed it with a face expression as if he was suffering.

"My turn then," the chief said, taking the Dirt Yam from young Wulfgar's hand. He then took a bite from the other side of the yam and swallowed it. "Go now, traveler! And good luck!"

Young Wulfgar left the village without saying a word. After he was far enough, he spat out the Dirt Yam from his mouth. Apparently he had feigned swallowing it.

"That was... the most disgusting food I have ever tasted!" young Wulfgar said. He then walked to climb the hill.

"And in the end, I failed to get to the treasure," King Wulfgar said. "Now I have told you everything, right?! Let me out of this!"

"I still don't understand what we should give for your majesty's birthday," Boli said.

"You fool! How come you still don't know?!" King Wulfgar said as the people released the chains and Glinda dispelled the cloud. He then jumped at Boli, grabbed Boli at the shoulders, and shook him hard. "That Dirt Yam is the symbol of what I want!"

"So what you want is..." I said.

"Exactly!" King Wulfgar interrupted while still holding and shaking Boli. "It was the only hunt from which I returned with empty hand! The treasure of Fort Markash!"

"So, your majesty, how about going there and hunt the treasure again?" Boli asked while King Wulfgar was still shaking him. "If we work together I'm sure you will get the treasure this time."

"Going there again?" King Wulfgar said as he stopped shaking Boli. "Don't be silly! It's so far from here!"

"Airship is complete and ready to fly," Boli said. I was a bit surprised by what Boli had just said.

"What? Since when?" King Wulfgar asked, looking surprised as well.

"Since yesterday," Boli said.

"Heh, alright. Go pack up your things. We will leave in two hours!" King Wulfgar said.

"As you command, your majesty!" Boli said.

"By the way, you two!" King Wulfgar said, looking at me and Huck. "You didn't seem to be helping the witch. Why are you here? Just to watch my humiliation?!"

"Umm, not really," Huck said.

"I am wondering if I can get help from the dwarves for my project," I said.

"Help? Ha! The dwarves never help and be helped by any other race!" King Wulfgar said. "Not for free anyway. So, what do you have for the trade?"

"Uhh... Trade?" Huck asked.

"Yeah! Trade!" King Wulfgar said. "Be it an object or a service, we dwarves never give something without receiving something of similar value in return!"

"Well... we don't have anything..." I said.

"Then forget it!" King Wulfgar said. "Return here once you have something to trade with!"

"Please don't be so harsh with them, your majesty," Boli said.

"Hmph! Alright, I'll give you a chance," King Wulfgar said. "Come with us for the treasure hunt. Your help there might or might not worth to trade with, but we will see."

"Huh? What?" I said, being surprised.

"We're going with them to Fort Markash. That's what, buddy," Huck said, gently hitting me with his elbow. "Thank you for the chance, your majesty!"

"Get prepared and meet me right here in two hours!" King Wulfgar said, and he walked away. The crowd gave him way as he walked. There was a silence for a minute, and then Boli cleared his throat.

"Birthday Protocol, dismissed," Boli said. "Thank you for your cooperation. We finally got the information we want."

The crowd cheered and clapped hands, and then all people went back to their activities. While all those were happening, I had been doubtful about going to Fort Markash. I was never suited for such expedition, and the fact that people had perished looking for the treasure instilled fear in me.

"Are you afraid, boy?" Boli asked.

"Uhh... Y-yeah..." I said.

"Don't worry. I will protect you!" Boli said. "And don't forget that King Wulfgar is experienced on that place!"

"I know, but still..." I said.

"Are you coming with us, Glinda?" Huck asked.

"Unfortunately, I can't," Glinda said, looking pretty exhausted. "The king's innate magic resistance forced me to use a lot of energy. I must go back to Emerald City to rest."

"I see. You can come with us. I will take you to Emerald City before going to... wherever Fort Markash is," Boli said.

"Perhaps your king won't like that," Glinda said.

"Heh, don't worry about that," Boli said.

"What should we prepare?" Huck asked.

"Nothing. I will prepare everything for you," Boli said. "Go walk around the city if you want, and be back here in two hours."

After saying that, Boli rode his car and left us. Glinda was pretty exhausted so we stayed there with her and waited. I spent those two hours thinking what kind of deadly traps I would have to face in Fort Markash, and despite what Boli had said, I was still very afraid. I didn't want to perish like those treasure hunters, not before bringing all my friends back to Strawberryland.

Nearly two hours later, suddenly we heard a sound of roaring engine from above. All three of us looked up and saw an airship which probably was the one mentioned by Boli. It looked like a helicopter with short wings and the propellers were positioned at the tip of the wings. I could notice that the propellers were attached to the wings in a way that they could be tilted forward and backward as needed. At the back of the airship there was a larger propeller which faced directly behind, which meant it was used for moving forward while the ones at the wings were used for taking off, hovering, and landing. The airship then landed at the open area near us, and a door at its side opened.

"I think that means we should go in," Huck said.

"It seems so," Glinda said.

"Alright..." I said. "Let's go."

All three of us then entered the door of the airship. Inside, there was enough room for us to walk around a bit. Boli was sitting on the pilot seat, and King Wulfgar was sitting on a passenger seat behind it. There were more than enough seats for all of us, so all three of us picked a seat to sit on and buckled up.

"Alright, next stop: Emerald City!" Boli said, and he flew the airship to Emerald City. I didn't know the speed of the airship, but it only took less than an hour to arrive at Emerald City.

"We're here!" Boli said. "Where should I land?"

"You don't have to land," Glinda said, getting off from her seat and standing up. "I can teleport myself to Emerald Castle."

"Rest well, Glinda," I said.

"Tell our friends that we will be okay," Huck said.

"Thank you. I will," Glinda said, and she teleported away.

"Alright, we're off to Fort Markash now. Go get some rest. This will be a long trip!" Boli said, and he flew the airship away from Emerald City. I could only hope everything would turn out fine.

-End of Chapter 5-


	7. Year 1, Chapter 6

Year 1

Chapter 6: Fort Markash

"Alright, listen up, boys!" King Wulfgar said while we were still on the way to Fort Markash with Boli's airship. "I need to do a briefing before we begin the hunt!"

"Yes... your majesty," I said, kinda timidly because I was not sure how I should address him.

"I'm not a king now," King WUlfgar said, getting off from his seat and walking towards the back of the airship. "I'm just an old treasure hunter trying to hunt a treasure I once couldn't get, so call me by name!"

"Uhh.. Yes Wul... no, this doesn't feel right," I said, following him with Huck to the space at the back of the ship. I saw four backpacks stored there, two were considerably larger than the other two.

"Heh, if you were older, I would have you drink together with me until you call me by name," Wulfgar said, taking a large scroll from one of the larger backpacks and spreading the scroll over the floor. "Anyway, here's the map of Oz."

After Wulfgar spread the scroll on the floor, I looked at the map which was almost entirely covered by a single continent. The continent bordered an ocean from South to East part, and there was a pretty large island, covering about one-tenth of the map at the southeast corner. There were writings on the map, probably the names of the places. However, the writings were not in alphabet, instead they were in characters I could not recognize.

"Is this the map of the whole world?" Huck asked.

"No, this is only a continent map," Wulfgar said.

"How many continents are there in the world?" I asked.

"Nobody knows for certain," Wulfgar said. "Hey! Are you trying to distract me?"

"Oh, sorry your maj... I mean... Wulf..gar," I said timidly.

"Heh, whatever. Anyway, this is Emerald City," Wulfgar said, putting his index finger at a black dot roughly at the center of the continent. "And this is Dwarven Capital."

The distance between Emerald City and Dwarven Capital shown on the map was surprisingly close, only about two centimeters, while the map was at least two meters wide and one meter tall. I was quite astonished to see that Oz was very large, and it was still not including other continents out there.

"Fort Markash is located in Granite region, which is right here," Wulfgar said, pointing at a region about 15 centimeters Northeast from Emerald City. "Walking there would normally take months, but thanks to this airship we will arrive there in about eight hours."

"That's good to hear," I said.

"Not so easy, boys!" Wulfgar said. "This airship does not have good resistance to harsh weather, and the winds in Granite are very unpredictable and unfriendly!"

"Oh man," Huck said. "So what should we do?"

"We will land just outside Granite, and from there we will switch to land route!" Wulfgar said, pointing at a place away from Granite.

"So we are going to walk all the way to Fort Markash from there?" I asked.

"Of course not!" Wulfgar said. "Why do you think this airship is this large?"

"Uhh, no idea," Huck said.

"Oh, to bring Boli's..." I said before interrupted.

"Exactly! The land vessel is in this ship as well!" Wulfgar said. "Though he told me the name is... what was it... kat, cah, cas?"

"Car," I said.

"Yes, that one," Wulfgar said. "Simple indeed, but I have no idea how he got that name. He usually just name his vehicles like how they are used. Like this 'airship', a ship but in the air."

"So, how long will it take to arrive at Fort Markash?" I asked.

"The distance from landing point to Fort Markash is about two thousand kilometers," Wulfgar said. "And before you comment on it, yes it's very far. Even with the car, it will take about a week to get there. Any questions?"

"Does the car have enough fuel for the trip back and forth?" I asked.

"I got it covered! No worries!" Wulfgar said.

"Enough food and water for all of us?" Huck asked.

"Check!" Wulfgar said.

"I guess no more questions then," I said.

"Cheers for a successful treasure hunt!" Wulfgar said.

"CHEERS!" All of us, including Boli, shouted.

Eight hours later, Boli landed the airship right in the middle of a grassland. Then he took his car from the storage space at the back of the airship. After checking that everything were ready and not forgotten, Boli took four cube things from one of the larger backpacks and put them a few meters away from the ship in rectangular formation. He then pressed a button on the last cube he had put, and all four cubes suddenly erected metal bars to other cubes. Everything happened very fast that within seconds what I saw was a large metal cage fixed to the ground, with the airship inside it.

"We will be leaving it for at least two weeks. Can't be too careful about it," Boli said.

"Are you going to drive in the dark?" Huck asked. Indeed it was already near midnight.

"Of course not!" Boli said while laughing. "We will set up camp here and depart tomorrow morning."

"Oh, I see," Huck said. "I must admit that I'm not to good at setting the tent."

"Me too," I said.

"Tent?" Boli said, and he laughed. "I have never said that we will use a tent!"

Boli then took another cube thing from the same backpack. This time the cube was a bit larger than the previous four cubes. He then walked to an open space, put the cube on the ground, and activated it. He then ran away from the cube, and then there was a small explosion which left a lot of smoke around where the cube had been placed. When the smoke cleared we saw a house, the shape of which was similar to an igloo but made from metal.

"Hmph! I've never had it this easy back then!" Wulfgar said. "I didn't even have a tent! I built my own shelter with anything I could find around!"

"But now we have this, so let's just live with it!" Boli said. All of us then entered the instant house to rest for the night.

The trip to Fort Markash went by without anything significant happened. We rode the car during the day, making a stop every lunch time and dinner time, and set up camp once night arrived, making the sky almost completely dark. During this trip I learned a few things about Oz, such as the wildlife which was not much different than our planet, and the seasons cycle which was also the same with our planet. After one week, we arrived at a village under a tall hill, which seemed to be the village shown in the projection before. It was already dusk when we arrived.

"Fort Markash is right at the top of that hill," Wulfgar said.

"And that is the village you told us about, right?" Boli said. "Let's go there."

"Why should we?" Wulfgar asked.

"To make sure your deal with the village still stands," Boli said.

"If you say so, alright," Wulfgar said, walking to the village.

"You two, accompany him," Boli said.

"Huh? What about you?" I asked.

"There's something I must do," Boli said. "I'll meet you again at the other side of the village."

"Alright then," Huck said.

The two of us then followed Wulfgar into the village. The village was a really poor village, looking at the dilapidated houses and the inhabitants who didn't seem to have any meaningful activities.

"This village is still as poor as the last time I was here," Wulfgar said. "That means the treasure is still not found yet."

"Hey, that dwarf looks familiar," Huck said, looking at an old dwarf who was sitting alone.

"Isn't that... the village chief?" Wulfgar said. "Wait here. I'll go talk to him."

"Alright," I said. Wulfgar then approached the old dwarf.

"Treasure hunter...?" the old dwarf said, seeming to recognize Wulfgar.

"Yes, it's me. You still remember our deal back then?" Wulfgar asked.

"Of course I still remember," the old dwarf said. "Pity you didn't make it back then."

"And now I'm here to try again," Wulfgar said. "This time I will come back with the treasure!"

"Best of luck, friend," the old dwarf said.

"Let's go," Wulfgar said to us. We then walked to the other side of the village. We then waited there for a few more minutes because Boli was not there yet.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Boli said as he arrived.

"Where have you been?!" Wulfgar said.

"Just a few small things," Boli said.

"Whatever. Let's just go now," Wulfgar said. "Despite the available path and stairs, climbing this hill will take a while. I want to arrive at the top before dark."

We then climbed the hill through the path and stairs. The climb was very tiring for me, to the point that I almost couldn't feel my legs. I really wondered why Huck seemed to have no problem climbing for what seemed like hours, and the two dwarves climbed carrying a very large bloated backpack each.

"I wonder why you bought so much food from the village we passed by yesterday," I said, trying to divert my attention from my exhaustion.

"I don't want to repeat the same mistake," Wulfgar said.

"Mistake? What mistake?" I asked.

"Less talking, more climbing," Wulfgar said. "If you're tired, have Boli to carry your backpack."

"No thanks. I'm good, I think..." I said, although it was very clear that I was almost at the limit of my strength.

"The peak is just around that corner," Wulfgar said, pointing at a corner of the path. "Hang in there, boy."

"I'm... just... fine..." I said, struggling to keep my pace.

"It's been so long that..." Wulfgar said as he turned around the corner. "...I forgot how it felt to be here."

When I finally made it to the peak, what I saw was the view of a stone wall with a very deep ravine in front of it. Behind the wall I could see a stone building, which seemed to have a shape of a pyramid with the center of one side having a long staircase to the box-shaped peak. With further observation, I noticed that every side of the building was surrounded by both the stone wall and the ravine. What I found a bit strange was the fact that there were many stone bridges around the building that could be used to cross the ravine. I also noticed that four of the bridges had collapsed, which gave me a bad feeling.

"We will set up camp near the first bridge that is still intact," Wulfgar said, and we walked to the nearest intact bridge and put down our luggage.

"Too bad this place is too uneven and rocky to place the instant house," Boli said. "Let's live with bedrolls and campfire then."

"This ravine sure gives me chills," Huck said, carefully looking down the ravine.

"There sure are a lot of bridges," Boli said while he lit a campfire. "Don't tell me that..."

"Yeah, only one bridge is correct. The others will collapse if you try to cross it," Wulfgar said. "That's what happened to the treasure hunter's team. I myself made three other bridges collapse."

"How come?" I asked. "I mean, how did you manage to stay alive?"

"I'll show you tomorrow," Wulfgar said. "It's getting dark. Let's have dinner and then get some sleep."

All of us then ate our dinner while sitting around the campfire. It was the very first time for me to camp without a tent. Fortunately the sky was clear so I didn't worry about rain.

"Let's sleep for tomorrow," Wulfgar said.

"By the way, have you seen the dirt yams growing around here?" Boli asked. Indeed there were some dirt yams around us.

"Yeah! And if you dare to pick one up I'll smack you!" Wulfgar shouted.

"Your voice is law," Boli said. All of us then went to sleep.

In the morning, after having breakfast, Wulfgar immediately prepared himself to cross the bridge near us. He tied a rope to the bridge's post near at the edge of the ravine, and then to his waist. He then started to tip toe through the bridge.

"Do you need help?" I asked.

"Stay back! Or you might fall!" Wulfgar said, slowly walking. "I'll let you know if it's safe!"

Despite what he had said, I couldn't help coming close to see what was going to happen. Suddenly, I heard a clicking sound. The bridge then vibrated hard and all of the stones making the bridge were thrown upwards like being launched by a catapult.

"Watch out!" Huck shouted at me. Quite an amount of stones launched from the bridge fell down towards me, and I could only stand stiff. Fortunately, I was saved by Boli at the critical moment.

"He told you to stay back, didn't he?" Boli said.

"Sorry..." I said, feeling really ashamed.

"Oh no!" Huck shouted.

"I don't like the sound of that," Wulfgar, who had been climbing the rope he had tied to the post, said as he reached the edge of the ravine.

"Don't worry, we're all fine," Boli said.

"Aaaargh!" Wulfgar screamed after he realized the bad thing Huck had seen. The stones from the bridge had fallen right on our backpacks. Mine and Huck's were fortunately safe, but the two large backpacks were crushed. "But our food are all crushed! Help me, maybe we can still save some!"

Wulfgar then rushed to move the stones away from the backpacks. The rest of us helped, but the stones were too big and heavy for me and Huck, who were just two little kids.

"No good! All the food is absorbing the water!" Wulfgar said. "What about the other backpacks? Do they have any food?"

Both me and Huck opened our backpacks, and found only water bottles inside.

"I filled their backpacks only with additional drinking water supplies," Boli said. "I thought that we brought more than enough food already."

"And your waist bag?" Wulfgar asked, looking at Boli's waist bag which he still wore.

"In here there are only... accessories," Boli said.

"No choice then! Eat all you can! They will be spoiled by this night!" Wulfgar said, rushing to eat all the crushed food.

"Hey, calm down, your majesty!" Boli said, stopping Wulfgar. "Don't panic just because of food problem."

"You don't understand!" Wulfgar said. "Hunger is the deadliest enemy! It was the cause of my failure back then!"

"Let's sit down and calm ourselves," Boli said, and all of us sat down around the pile of crushed food.

"Would you tell us your story about that?" I asked while picking some food that was still pretty much intact.

"It all started right after I spat out that dirt yam," Wulfgar said while also doing the same thing. "All my food supplies had been exhausted one day before. I had thought that I could resupply at that village, but that dirt yam... I'd rather not talk about it again."

"I see. But you continued anyway?" Huck asked.

"Yeah, I thought I still had enough strength, so I climbed here," Wulfgar said. "When I got here, I knew that something was suspicious with all the bridges, so I took some time to examine one of them, trying to find anything suspicious. However, it was in vain. I couldn't see the trap trigger. I then had no choice other than walking through it using rope as my lifeline like what you saw. You know what happened next."

"And that happened three times?" I asked.

"Yeah, but the third time I fell down, I realized my mistake," Wulfgar said. "I had become very weak because I had neither eaten nor drunk for nearly two days. I couldn't climb up and my head felt really dizzy."

"How did you get out of there?" Huck asked.

"I had no choice other than pulling myself up little by little, and that took hours," Wulfgar said. "I finally managed to reach the ground again, but I felt like I could faint anytime, so I went down the hill and really fainted when I reached the bottom. The village chief found me and took care of me, but as soon as I woke up I decided to leave the place immediately."

"Because he served you more dirt yam?" Boli asked.

"You guessed it," Wulfgar said. He kept eating everything he could eat from the pile until his stomach bloated, meaning he ate too much.

"I don't understand. Why don't you go back to buy food and try again?" I asked.

"I'm ashamed, afraid to become laughing stock of the village chief," Wulfgar said. "Alright, now I'm full and ready... Ugh, I ate too much."

Eating too much caused Wulfgar to have a bad stomachache. He had to rest for half a day until he could stand up again.

"If we conserve our water, we still can last six more days," Wulfgar said. "Boys, you better don't move around too much. Boli, you too."

"Why me too? I can understand for them, but I'm strong enough to test the bridges," Boli asked.

"I need you to conserve stamina for later," Wulfgar said.

"We can go back to the village down there for some food and water," Boli said.

"Heh! I don't want to go down there empty handed a second time!" Wulfgar said, tying a rope to his waist.

"The water we have is only enough for six more days, until your birthday," Boli said.

"Don't mention that word again!" Wulfgar said, seeming very upset. "The only present I want is the treasure!"

"Your desire is law," Boli said as Wulfgar tied the other end of his rope to an intact bridge's pole. "Be careful."

"Stop being fussy!" Wulfgar said, starting to walk through the bridge. "Taking risk is my way of life! And I always rise again whenever I fall!"

Right after Wulfgar said that, I heard a clicking sound, and then the bridge collapsed. Wulfgar fell down and the rope kept him from falling all the way down, but the swinging movement from the fall caused him to hit his head hard to the cliffside. We pulled him up and found him almost fainted.

"I feel really old. In the past, I hit the cliffside with my face..." he said before he fainted for real. He finally woke up a few hours later, and moved on to the next bridge. This time, he tried crawling while rubbing the stones on the bridge with his hands. However, that method didn't work. I heard another clicking sound and the same thing happened again. I really hoped he would find the real bridge soon before he hurt himself really badly.

-End of Chapter 6-


End file.
